Dark Order: The New Empire
by lostsword
Summary: When Luke decides to wait until morning to find Artoo, he accidentally alters the timeline and is brought to his father far sooner then Lucas intended. Now that Vader has found his son, he decides to move forward with his plans to take the Imperial Throne. Meanwhile, Imperial Stormtrooper Jo'k Forra learns that war is not all it's cracked up to be. LukexMara Vader being a boss
1. Chapter 1: A Change of the Winds

_Dark Order: The New Empire_

_Chapter 1: A Change of the Winds_

**A/N: I am sorry that I had to rewrite this fic once more, however the past one didn't follow out well and I lost sight of it. Now I am back and with double the determination. The sole reason I am doing this is to give you the satisfaction of knowing you stuck with me to the end of this long ride. So REVIEW to keep me going! I need GOOD REVIEWS. CRITISM is WANTED! Thank you for reading this and now read below.**

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN STAR WARS! I ONLY OWN MY OC'S and PLOTLINE. AS WELL AS ANYTHING ELSE THAT I PUT IN THIS FIC THAT DOESN'T BELONG TO ANYONE ELSE OR STAR WARS!**

/

Clone Captain Slick, a veteran of the Clone Wars of old, observed the small settlement that was supposedly holding the droids that had the stolen Death Star plans that had been giving him so much trouble. Setting the electrobinoculars he had been looking through back into their pouch, Slick pulled out his com and contacted his superior.

Minutes later and the image of Darth Vader appeared before him. "Lord Vader" the clone captain said. "I have tracked the droids to a local farm. Permission to proceed?"

"Permission granted, captain" the Dark Lord wasted no time in answering. "Be sure to take any sentients if the droids are found though, your butchering of the Jawas could have cost us. Consider yourself lucky" Vader warned, then the com connection ended and Slick placed his com on his belt.

As he did this, one of his troopers came up behind him and saluted. "Sir" he said. "Are we going to attack soon?" the man asked. Slick knew, like most of the troopers, they were bored and tired from the long, hot day under the twin suns of Tatooine and that they were eager to grab the droids and get off the planet.

"No" Slick said. "We strike at dusk."

/

Luke sighed heavily as he stared at the setting suns of Tatooine. That blasted droid! He should have never removed his darn bolt. Now he was off who knew where!

"Um...Master Luke" a rather worried voice said from behind Luke. "Are we going to go and find Artoo?" the protocol droid asked.

Luke sighed once more. "No" he said at last. "The sand people will be out soon" he added as the droid somehow seemed to project a surprised and worried aura, despite being a robot. "We better head inside" Luke said.

As if to reinforce this, his father called. "Luke! Come inside! Im shutting the power down!" his father, Owen, called from inside their small tatooine home.

"Be down in a minute!" Luke called back before shaking his head once more as he headed for the small entrance, the protocol droid following him. That droid was going to get him in trouble. He just knew it.

/

"Quiet!" Slick hissed as the small squad he was commanding made their way across the cool night air of Tatooine, their destination, an old farm estate, was completely dark and showed no signs of movement. But then again, it was underground, so who knew what awaited them inside. "843, 348, 432 prime charges and prepare to breech" Slick ordered as they reached the front entrance, a simple use of a disruptor to break the electro fence surrounding the estate.

Three of the stormtroopers in his unit moved up and pulled out several flash bang grenades as a fourth moved towards the door while the rest of the squad prepared to charge inside. "Set weapons to stun" Slick ordered and then, once he was sure that they had done as ordered, gave the signal to breech.

The fourth trooper, who had been placing a explosive charge on the metal door, ran out of the small hole like entrance where the door was hidden. Seconds later and it detonated in a ball of smoke, dust, mortar and fire. Moments after this and three bright flashes went off and the squad moved inside, moving through every hall, door and passage they could find. Slick himself led a pair of troopers into a small bedroom, where the startled faces of an old couple were just coming to as he raised his rifle at them. The man reacted quick and jumped for a hunting rifle laying against the wall near by the bed, the bolt pulled back to show it was ready to fire. He never made it. With a loud burp, the stun ring spat out from his rifle and hit the man square in the back, causing him to slide to the ground in a heap as one of his men stunned the woman as well.

"Bind them and take them to the shuttle" Slick ordered before walking out of the room as the two troopers each pulled out a pair of sturdy metal binders and approached their unconscious soon-to-be prisoners.

Slick exited the bedroom and found a sergeant walking up to him, who stopped and saluted. "Sir, we have found one of the droids, it was hiding in the farmhouse garage" the man reported.

Slick nodded. "Good work. Where is the other one?" he asked as two troopers came down the same hallway as the sergeant, between them was a stunned young man in dirty clothes with blond hair.

"We found faint tracks, the droid most likely fled earlier today"

/

Obi-Wan Kenobi, now going by Ben Kenobi in his exile, woke up from a uncomfortable and troubled sleep as he felt the force warn him of an impending danger. It took him several minutes to realize it wasn't directed at him, but rather, his charge. Luke Skywalker. Shooting out of bed, Kenobi quickly grabbed his lightsaber with the force before throwing on his robe and making as fast a move for the door as he could. Those minutes would cost him.

/

"Is everything done?" Slick asked a technician standing before him. The man nodded and Slick grimaced once more. The droid was still in the shuttle hold, waiting to be sent up to the _Devastator_ to be scanned for the plans, deactivated of course. But they had not found the other droid yet. That left a bad taste in his mouth and a sick feeling in his gut. "Do it" he said before walking onto the shuttle ramp and then entered the shuttle itself. Once the tech had hit a small button, he too boarded the shuttle as well.

/

Kenobi walked closer to the Lar's homestead and was nearly able to make out the building's upper dome when out of nowhere, the entire structure exploded. The roof detonated into a ball of fire, the ground around the entrance, which was the underground area of the home, blew up all around as the ground became a raging dust and plaster storm before caving in on itself as the area where the courtyard was supposed to be exploded as well, fire rushing out of the circle like area.

Feeling a rush of death, Kenobi dropped to his knees and hung his head in failure and remorse. He had failed. He should have been faster. All he could of think of was that. Failure. He had failed. Luke was dead.

/

Slick straightened his dress uniform as best as he could. He normally wore his stormtrooper armor when on a mission of any sort, something that other officers looked down upon since he rejected their precious helmet and 'Better' clothing option, which was more likely to get you killed. The only time he really wore his dress uniform was when he was reporting to someone of importance or was in an imperial parade, which he then saw the less defensive uniform a life saver in the hot sun.

Having made sure that the uniform was perfect, and then some, Slick exited his quarters and made his way for Vader's private chambers. There was a reason he was looking his best. The droid they had scanned had not contained the plans, and he could possibly face the consequences for it.

Stopping before the door, he took a deep breath and waited. Moments went by and then the double steel door slid open to allow him access to the room beyond, and possibly death as well.

Stepping into the lair of the Dark Lord of the Sith, the Imperial captain took measured steps before stopping before his superior's meditation sphere. Dropping to one knee, he waited to be addressed.

The black metal sphere moved clockwise for a bit, and then the upper half of the sphere moved up towards the roof as Slick now found himself facing the black armored and masked form of Lord Darth Vader, the Emperor's loyal sith.

"Sir" he began. "We have finished searching the droids data banks and have found no trace of the plans. They were either deleted, or more likely put in the other droid that is still missing" Slick reported, knowing that he could likely die since he had not retrieved the data that was requested for him to find and secure.

The dark form of Vader sat in the sphere for a moment, his respirator echoing throughout the room for a while before the cycle of breathing in and out stopped as Vader spoke. "Captain, you are to go to the surface and find the droid, no matter the cost" the sith said and Slick saluted, realizing he had just survived a possible, and probably painful, execution.

"Yes Sir" Slick said and made his way back out of the room as he dropped his salute.

/

"Sir"

"Yes?" Bail Organa, former senator for Alderaan, High Council Member and founder of the Rebel Alliance to Restore the Republic, said as he turned to find one of his house servants standing before him.

"I just received a report from our spy aboard the _Devastator_" the uniformed man said, remembering the brief data he had just received. "It states that Princess Leia is currently being shipped to the Death Star under Lord Vader's supervision and that several interrogations have been planned to start once they jump to hyperspace" the servant finished.

"They want to break her for the information she has" Bail concluded. "Contact Mon Mothma on our most secure network and inform her that I am 'Going on a Vacation' and then get my things ready, I have to go take care of a few things" Bail ordered the loyal servant before heading off towards the gardens where he knew his wife would be. He had a lot of begging and explaining to do.


	2. Chapter 2: Plans and Reports

_Dark Order_

_Chapter 2: Plans and Reports_

**DISCLAIMER: Star Wars does NOT belong to me, only Dark Order and my OC's, ideas, and anything else I made up. Also, anything my Beta comes up with belongs to him. Everything else that neither I, him, or some other author helping me came up with, belongs to their RIGHTFUL owners.**

"Yes Captain?" Lord Vader demanded as he stared at the hologram of the Imperial foot soldier who was currently on the desert planet of Tatooine, a place Vader detested and would be glad to leave as soon as they completed their mission on the retched place.

"Sir" the captain began. "We have just engaged a possible rebel transport. The droid was sighted to have boarded it with several other life forms. However the ship and it's crew managed to escape after a heavy gun fight in the hanger...we suffered heavy casualties..." the captain reported, a bit of anger and pain mixed into his mechanical voice as he reported to the Sith Lord.

Vader nodded as he felt the emotions from the hologram reach him, if only faintly. Most believed he cared little for his soldiers. But that was not true. While it was in fact true he cared little for the vast majority of the stormtroopers deployed in the field, he cared very much for his personal unit, the five hundred and first. Losing men that he had direct loyalty from was a blow he hated to take, and he promised himself they would be avenged with the death of the alliance. "Very well captain" Vader said. "Gather your men and bring them back to the _Devastator_" Vader ordered. "All of them" he stated.

Slick, on the surface, blinked as he realized that Vader was granting his fellow soldiers a proper funeral. "T-thank you sir" Slick said and then cut the com.

Vader watched the display flicker off before standing and walking over to the holographic projector set up in the corner of his chambers. He dropped to one knee and then used the force to hit a button that instantly connected him to his master, Emperor Palpatine.

"Yes?" came the old, rasping voice over the communication gear's speakers as Vader replied.

"My Master" Vader began. "I have secured one of the droids, but it held no data of worth, however the last one escaped and I am in pursuit of it" Vader reported.

Palpatine looked slightly angry, but the look vanished almost instantly. "Very well" he said. "Retrieve my plans soon Vader, time is short and the destruction of the rebellion must be accomplished soon, or else they could very well damage the Empire" the Emperor stated as he cut the channel on the Sith.

Vader, used to being brushed off by the Emperor, simply stood up and headed for the bridge. He would enjoy frightening that coward Wermis today. And besides, he had to find out where that ship had gone, it had the plans on it after all.

/

"We have a problem" Mon Mothma said to the council that was before her. "Bail Organa has just informed me from his home on Alderaan that his daughter, Princess Leia Organa was just recently captured by Darth Vader and is going to be transported to the Death Star" she said as the room fell silent to as the news hit the gathered members of the Alliance's commanding structure. They all knew what she had been carrying with her at the time.

"Naturally we are going to spring princess Leia, but we have also found information regarding the Death Star plans" she said as dread entered the room on some of the peoples faces. "Luckily, it appears the princess was able to smuggle them away with a band of rebels, and the plans are currently out of the Empire's hands" she said as a general sigh of relief washed over the room. "We must, however, secure these plans as well as free the princess from the Death Star" Mon said and stepped aside to let General Madine speak.


	3. Chapter 3: Interrogation

_Dark Order_

_Chapter 3: Interrogation_

**DISCLAIMER: If you still haven't figured out that Star Wars does not belong to me, then go back a chapter!**

"Yes?" Vader asked the slightly pale Interrogation Technician who stood before him, trembling slightly, though he was admirably concealing it better then some of the past captains and admirals that Vader had '_disposed_ ' of.

"Milord" the head technician reported. "The older couple have just finished being interrogated and we believe they know something about the droids, as they failed several lie detector scans, but whatever they are hiding, our standard technology cannot handle" the man said. "We could wait until we have docked with the Death Star to interrogate them with it's more advanced equipment sir" the man offered, however he doubted the Dark Lord would wait that long.

Vader shook his head as he began walking down the hall that was lined with mostly empty prisoner and interrogation suites, the Dark Lord did not keep that many prisoners around for long, so they rarely got any use. "No" he said. "I will deal with them. Personally."

The tech, following at Vader's side, nodded, relief flooding his mind. Vader would break them easily and that made his own job a lot easier.

"And what of the boy?" Vader asked.

The technician immediately launched into detail about the boy, glad that the harder problem was out of the way now. "He admitted to knowing the droids were stolen, as well as revealing that his parents ordered him not to tell anyone about the droids and that he was to wipe their data tomorrow evening" the tech responded. "He told the truth, according to the scans. We are still interrogating him, but as far as we can tell, he is not with the rebellion, and I have doubts that the parents are either, but they have obviously been in contact with a member of the rebels or someone that is in turn allied with them" the tech informed Vader. The tech hesitated, then added, "Milord, the boy will be done shortly, would you like me to have him ready for you when you are done?" he asked.

Vader nodded and then gathered the information about where the parents and their child were located before he dismissed the technician. The man was most useful. Perhaps he should promote him and transfer him to the 501st. He was dramatically low on good interrogation officers and Commander Jork had been complaining about needing better men then he currently had. Maybe.

Vader mentally noted the idea off into his head as he came before the door and casually let the dark side enter the room, allowing the couple to feel a great chasm of despair and horror enter their minds before opening the door.

The result increased their fear, hopelessness and despair a hundred fold. Standing slightly over two meters even and clad in solid black armor from head to toe, Vader was terrifying even without the gleaming lightsaber on his belt, hanging at his side, or the cruel, almost dripping pure evil laced breathing from his frightening face mask. The eyeless eye sockets only added to the skull like effect as the door shut behind him, sealing the two life forms before him's fate in their minds.

"Where did you get the droids?" he demanded, deciding to simply cut to the chase today. The couple cringed noticeably and he felt their worry rise and hope fall but they did not respond in any other way. Growling softly, Vader forced both humans, with a casual tug of the dark side, to look up at him. "Where did you find the droids? Who supplied them to you?" he demanded. Still no response. Deciding this was going to yield no proper results, he opened his palm and twisted it to the side, as if tossing an object. The result was both of the elderly couple flying at a _very_ frighteningly fast pace into the _very_ strong durasteel walls with a audible thud and a painful snap of weakened old bones.

Allowing the dark side to make their will shrink and their pain flare, Vader tried once more, allowing the force to make his words all the more tempting. "Why don't we try this again? Who supplied you with the droids?"

The male, who looked slightly older then his female counter part, winced from his broken arm and cracked ribs as he tried to glare at the Sith. "N-never..." he tried to mumble out, but Vader simply slammed him into the other wall, causing a wail of anguish from him and a whimper of concern from the female. Vader found the entire scene of affection disgusting, as it brought back unpleasant memories. So he settled by mentally assaulting the man's mind, causing him to cry out in pain as Vader tweaked various spots in the man's brain to cause an intense amount of pain.

The woman, who was obviously horrified, reached for him, only to be thrown against the wall, injuring her already broken arm once more. Listening to her cry out in pain, Vader had a small flashback of when he hit his wife the last time he had seen her, before the Jedi killed her...

Snarling in anger as the memory hit him after years of keeping those thoughts buried, Vader turned on the woman. "Tell me or he _dies_" Vader said in the darkest voice he had ever used, other then the time he had sworn to kill the Jedi after his wife's death.

The woman, trembling uncontrollably now, feared for both her and her husbands lives as she quickly, with fear and the dark side driving her to do such a task, told the Dark Lord the answer he had been fishing for. "Jawas!" she cried, knowing it was the truth, and it would keep the sith away from the 'Other' secret, which she could not let him know about.

Despite all the anger and rage inside Vader, he was sure those things had quadrupled when he heard this. "What!" he demanded darkly as he angrily ripped around in her mind's pain centers as he heard this. He still felt her guarding a deep secret in her mind, and she was desperately trying to keep the sith away from it. However, while Vader suspected the couple were slightly force sensitive, he knew she was not even close to his caliber and in seconds he had her gasping in rapid, ragged, pain filled breaths as his force signature exploded with surprise and astonishment.

Before his mind was a mental picture of a young boy. He had blond hair and blue eyes and a farmer's tan that he remembered from his long ago past. But this was not what shocked him. What shocked him was that the boy looked far to much like himself to be a coincidence, and that beside the mental picture, was also a mental picture of his former, now deceased, wife.

Briefly, Vader realized that he had, with his uncontrolled burst of the dark side, knocked both of the elder couples out cold and the walls were also dented and badly damaged. The lights were ruined and he was basked in darkness as he came to a startling conclusion. The boy that was with them. The one that claimed they were his parent. Was most likely his very own...son.

/

Obi-Wan Kenobi, better known as Ben Kenobi on Tatooine or simply Obi-Wan or Kenobi by his former fellow Jedi, who were mostly now dead, sat in a small cargo hold with the small R2-D2 unit from his times during the clone wars, wondering how he was ever going to explain to Yoda how he had allowed Luke to be killed. It had been a complete surprise. He hadn't even realized that Imperials had been on the planet until he had seen the holo news from a local cantina the next day, explaining that the Imperial's had arrived mysteriously in orbit and vanished before anyone could find out what they had been up to. Also, they had apparently bombarded any settlements that were on the side of the planet they had been orbiting, since reports had been filed about how multiple towns and homes were now completely gone, only craters marking they had ever existed.

Obi-Wan figured the Lar's were just an unfortunate incident, but why would they send Stormtroopers? And there was also the fact that the Lar's, as well as multiple other sites he had visited, among them a Jawa crawler, were on the _other_ side of the planet.

It was confusing indeed. But Obi-Wan could ponder it later, after he had delivered the droid he was supposed to escort to Alderaan, as the droid's message clearly stated.

/

Vader stood outside the prison doorway, wondering how to go about this.

His son was beyond the door, head in hands and trembling softly. He clearly expected to be executed. Vader had not even fully adjusted to calling him 'Son' yet. And there were millions of thoughts and things he wanted to ask his son racing through his mind at the moment. Sighing, Vader slowly considered his options. He could tell him, but he wasn't sure if the boy would accept him, he wasn't sure about what he knew or how he had been raised. If he approved of the Empire or not. But judging by what he knew so far, he figured it was the latter.

Letting another small sigh slink forth from his mask, Vader decided the best thing to do was to try and convince him to want to be trained by Vader and then reveal it to him when he was more controllable and less likely to retreat into himself upon learning of the information. The first step would be to eliminate all ideas of his 'Parents' being anything other then enemies, as well as to put out the idea that his real father was out there somewhere. That would work, actually. He could draw him in that way, offering him bits of knowledge that would keep him close to Vader, and then, when it was right, he would reveal all to him. But not yet, Vader reminded himself.

Using the force to open the door, Vader entered the room and watched as the boy looked up, and felt his dread grow. Vader allowed a small ripple to calm the boy's mind, something he hadn't done in quiet a while. "You do realize that stealing Imperial property is treason?" he asked and saw the boy wince at the words 'Stealing' and 'Imperial'. "The punishment for treason is death" he said and the boy simply shrugged, his fears now confirmed.

"But did you know that I can lift a death sentence?" Vader asked as the boy looked up at him, puzzlement in his mind and force signature. "How much do you know about your father?" Vader asked, feeling the boy's surprise at the odd question.

"What?" the boy asked.

"Surely they told you about your father" Vader insisted, pretending to sound like a surprised, but caring figure. The latter part wasn't really an act though.

"Who?" the boy asked, he was both puzzled and slightly interested about what the terrifying form before him was talking about.

"You don't know?" Vader asked, playing the fake note of being surprised into his voice once more. Seeing that the boy wasn't going to reply, Vader continued. "You have been lied to" he said simply. "Your parents are not really your 'True' parents. They are really your Aunt and Uncle and they somehow stole you from your father" Vader said.

The first things he felt in his son's mind was confusion and surprise, as well as disbelief and distrust. "Your lying" the boy said very softly.

Vader growled. "I do not lie" he said and mentally added, _at least not without very good reasons_. "I knew your father when we served together during the war" he stated and found the distrust quickly shifting away from him and towards the elderly couple. _As it should be_, Vader thought smugly as he drew his blade, but left it unlit. "Do you know what this is?" he asked. When the boy shook his head, he continued. "This is called a lightsaber, and your father wielded one of these with me during the war we both fought in before..." Vader cut off and felt the boy's mind scream with interest.

"What? What happened?" the boy asked.

Vader shook his head. "Maybe another time, but I promise to tell you about him later...he would want that" Vader said, complementing himself on his acting skills, something he had originally hated and had been teased mercilessly by his wife because of it. The boy was now mostly sure that he had been lied to and was slowly starting to realize what that meant, and there was when the anger began to form. "I must go, but I will tell you this" Vader said and realized this was what would draw the boy back to him. "You can't learn much about your father if you are dead, but if you were to agree to join me, you would both learn about your father, and learn the same skills he used in the war, to be like me." Vader said and exited the cell with that as a parting shot, causing the boy's mind to go into overdrive.

"You mean I can wield a blade like that?" the boy asked with surprise and slight awe as he slowly continued to become aware that he should be angry at his 'Parents' or Ant and Uncle as he now knew them as.

Vader did not reply, and simply used the force to close the door, leaving the boy to his thoughts. Vader felt the boy start thinking and then stood by the door for a few more minutes as he expanded from thinking about this new discovery, to thinking about his father, to his sudden anger at being lied and deceived and then to the offer and possibility to learn about his father. Surprisingly, Vader also found him thinking about how he had always wanted to escape Tatooine and that the offer could be what he had been waiting for. "That confirms it" Vader said softly as he was at last assured the boy was really his son. Deciding to give him a few hours to think, he pulled out his comlink and contacted his adjunct, Lieutenant Lekauf.

"Lieutenant" Vader said into the com. "Have food and water brought to the boy's cell and make sure he is bathed, given fresh cloths and told he will be brought before me in six hours" he said and then hit a button on the comlink's sleek metal side cover to make the com line _very_ secure. "It is time to commence the first part of my plan, send the proper instructions to Solis" he ordered and then cut the comlink before heading for his quarters. He needed to think about what he was going to say to his son, and what he planned to do about him. He still had to go to the Death Star after all.

/

Hours later, Vader turned to face the relatively small form that had entered behind the slightly taller form before it as the pair stepped into Vader's lair.

Lieutenant Lekauf bowed to his lord before returning to attention. He then about faced and exited the room, leaving the boy and Vader alone in the dark, crypt like metal chamber that was Vader's main quarters.

The Sith made a gesture and the boy, understanding the obvious gesture, stepped closer. Vader, pleased that he was following instructions, started up the conversation that would determine an entire galaxy's fate. "I trust your were treated well and ate substantially.

The boy shifted, barely noticeable to the average life form, but Vader, with his force assisted senses, caught it easily. The boy opened his mouth, fully prepared to lie and say that it had been enough, while in fact his famished body had barely been given anything. Thoughts about how his family's farm had come under hard times because of the war had drifted to the top of his mind.

"Do not speak" Vader ordered. "I can tell you are going to lie, so from now on, speak the truth to me" he ordered and the boy, shocked at the information, nodded slowly. "I will make sure you are taken care of properly" Vader informed him as he probed the boy, he still held anger towards his fake parents, but it had diminished slightly, like a fire with little wood left the next day. He would have to fix that.

"Have you come to a decision?" Vader asked as he gently nudged his son's mind and placed the thoughts he had a few hours ago, the ones about being lied to and the prospect about finding out about his true parents.

The boy, influenced by Vader's powerful mind, nodded. "Yes" he said. "I want to learn about my father" he said, the anger coming to him out of nowhere, but for some reason it felt good.

Vader nodded. "As promised, I will tell you some of your father's history" he informed him and then launched into tale as his son listened with rapt attention. "Your father and I were both students for a powerful warrior called Obi-Wan Kenobi" Vader started, trying very hard not to spit out the man's name. He would explain to the boy later about that wretched man, although he did catch a flicker of recognition in the boy's mind. He would figure out what that meant later as well. "Then the Clone Wars started up and your father, myself and our master, which was Obi-Wan, were deployed on multiple fronts and soon became close friends, but your father started to see a senator and Obi-Wan found out and became furious, he kicked your father out of the order we had both been faithfully serving" Vader said, finding his son very much entrapped by the story, eagerly wanting to know more. "Naturally I went immediately to see if he was ok, only to find your mother's ship in ruins and him nowhere to be found" Vader said, deciding to add one last truth to make the lie that more powerful. "The Jedi were behind the attack" he finished, feeling an explosion of pain, sadness and sorrow on equal levels in his son's young, untested mind.

"They died...?" the boy asked, sounding horribly hurt. However the rising flames of fiery anger licked at the boy's mind, almost ready to break loose.

Vader was glad he was wearing a mask as he winced. This would hurt him, but it was for the best. "Not entirely" he said. "Your mother was definitively killed, but your father is out there somewhere" he assured the boy. "I never felt him perish in the explosion" he added and felt the boy flare up with hope. "Now that I have found you, I will look for him and hopefully I will find him" he explained as the boy nodded, a bitter, but slightly joyful flare of hope shot up inside his son at the prospect of having at least one of his parents still alive.

"In the meantime" Vader said. "I will train you, as your father would want, until I can find him. I think it would be a wonderful surprise to find his son a powerful warrior like him when he finally finds you alive" Vader explained as the boy finally spoke.

"Why?" he asked. "Why didn't he come for me before?" he asked.

"Your father never knew. I never knew either, I only knew that he had been hoping for a child with your mother shortly before he was exiled from the order and your mother's death. Neither I nor him knew you existed and I had left him to his own doings for years now because I didn't want to bring up bad memories from his destroyed family" Vader explained and felt the boy nod in agreement. "Do not worry" he said. "I am sure that I will find him soon" he said.

The boy, joy filling up the sadness in his ind, nodded once more. "We will begin your first lesson then" Vader stated and the boy nodded again. "But first" he said. "What is your name?" he asked, wanting to know very badly.

"Luke" the boy stated. No, the young man stated. "Luke Skywalker" he said.


	4. Chapter 4: The Battle of Alderaan

_Dark Order: The New Empire_

_Chapter 4: The Battle for Alderaan_

Four days later and the _Devastator_ dropped out of hyperspace over Alderaan.

Vader stopped his lesson with Luke, who was in the middle of lifting multiple chairs, boxes and weapons that had been brought into Vader's quarters, as Captain Wermis informed him of the ship's arrival. Vader then had Luke, who was now dressed in a plain black shirt, tunic and robe, follow him to the bridge.

Standing on the raised platform above the rest of the sleek and sturdy metal bridge, Vader looked through the middle pair of the large reinforced and ray shielded windows that showed the large Death Star Battle Station orbiting the ocean covered planet of Alderaan.

"Sir!" one of Vader's technicians reported from a lower deck on the bridge. "Transmission from the Death Star Sir!" the tech said.

Vader nodded and made a small gesture and Luke slid out of the angle of the bridge projector so whoever was hailing them, which most likely would be Grand Moff Tarkin, would not see him.

The image appeared and Vader's suspicion was confirmed as the silver and gray haired wrinkled face of Grand Moff Tarkin appeared before him. "Vader" the man did not sound happy. "Rebels tried to drop in system and were captured, but they managed to escape and are on the station, one of them is a jedi. Get on this station now and deal with them" Tarkin ordered.

Technically, Vader was equal, if not higher, to Tarkin. But Palpatine had ordered him to assist Tarkin and he was the commanding officer of the station, no matter the person's rank, short of the Emperor. "Very well" he said and the transmission was cut. A jedi? Interesting. Turning to his son, who was still unaware of who Vader really was, Vader informed him of what he wanted him to do. "Go to my quarters and continue your lessons until I return. If I will be aboard longer then expected, then I will have Lieutenant Lekauf bring you aboard" Vader told the boy softyl, who was confused and slightly angered that he was being left behind. Vader simply watched him go, as he could not fix the problem while on the bridge, with the officers listening to everything they could hear. The boy would just have to learn to do as he was told.

/

Bail Organa looked at the grim, determined faces that were shoved into the troop compartment with him. They looked like men that had seen far to much war, most were veterans of the Clone Wars after all.

Being one of four shuttles, Alpha, Bravo, Charlie and Delta, the rescue team was more of a minor assault force since it measured up to roughly sixty men, fifteen men a transport. Shortly after he had arrived on Yavin IV, he had joined up with the rebel strike team that was going on the suicide mission that was going to try and rescue his daughter, as well as damage the death star with whatever they could use, which were mostly outdated ACB's or Atomic Compression Bombs, which were essentially out of juice and would only do a sixth of the damage they might have done from the time when they had actually been effective.

Sighing, Bail hoped his daughter was alright, or as alright as he could reasonably hope for. He then checked the battery pack for his small blaster and the backup for it as well as his comlink. He should be good, for a while anyways. The only problem to this plan was that Rieekan and he could be captured, which would place the Alliance and worse, Alderaan, in more danger. But something had to be done.

Glacing once more at the hold literally filled to the brim with Alliance Commando's, Bail waited for the shuttle to drop out of hyperspace.

/

Gun chief Chim Yoaga walked into the control room for his turbo laser battery, _Big Lad_, which was ready for any rebel attack, as it had always been since the station became operational, and then some.

He nodded at his subordinates and set his cup of calf on the console before him as he sunk into his chair and turned his gun controls on and went through system checks. Halfway through, the gun screen turned on and when he was about done, he saw something flash across the mostly dark screen. Stopping mid button press, Yoaga looked at the screen more closely and nearly swore on the Emperor's grave as he shouted as loud as he could over the com, "Rebels!" Immediately after, the gun room exploded in a shower of hot shrapnel and fiery sparks as the tower detonated when a rebel X-wing opened fire and demolished the gun before it could come to bare on the four transports that had just dropped from hyperspace, but it was too late for the imperials. The shuttles quickly zoomed by as the X-wings took out the dangerous guns. The Imperial's were confused and slow to respond. By the time the Tie's were warmed up and ready to go and the rest of the guns turned around, the shuttles were inside and the fighters had broken off to maneuver closer to the Imperial Star Destroyer, the _Devastator_. Being Vader's personal ship, they would never fire even close to the ship and instead simply scrambled a hoard of Tie's after the dozen or so X-Wings which were trying to make a resemblance of a stand.

However, seconds after the battle began, the ships broke off and headed for one of Alderaan's nearby moons, Tie Fighters hot in pursuit.

/

Vader had found the dead troopers and the empty cell that was supposed to hold Princess Organa and followed the Jedi's force signature until he came to a hanger. He watched, in shock as a shuttle lifted up into the air and shot off from the hanger and into space. He knew the plans had been on the ship, but that was not what surprised him, it was the jedi that stood before him. It was his old master.

"I see that time has done _wonders_ for your looks" Vader taunted as he ignited his blade.

"I do not need physical appeal to beat you" Obi-Wan challenged as he drew his blade.

"The arrogant shall never win" Vader countered and lunged, his blood red blade crashing against his former master's own bright blue blade as they wrestled for dominance.

"I am not the one who is arrogant" Obi-Wan countered as he spun away and used the force to try and throw a crate the size of a Tie at Vader, who flipped backwards as the crate sailed on, crashing into another crate, crushing the two together as a loud grinding sound could be heard. "As I recall" he said and prepared for another assault upon his Makashi defenses. "It was you that was arrogant the last time we dueled" he shot at the Sith.

Vader, already enraged, charged at Obi-Wan and tried to use a powerful fast strike with his Shien style as he followed with a brutal upper arcing stab after Obi-Wan deflected it.

For a number of minutes, the two force users dueled, equally matched, Obi-Wan softened by age and Vader from being barely human flesh, neither could gain a bit over the other. Finally, something exploded, then another and then another and as the combatants spun away from each other, a fourth thump sounding explosion went off and Vader sped forward, managing to nearly slip past Obi-Wan's Makashi defense, which was nearly unbreakable. Instead, the two were once more locked in a bitter clash of pure energy.

"Give up old man" Vader demanded as he tried to push past Kenobi's own strength. "You have lost" he stated as Kenobi tried to do the same thing he was doing. Push the other away and finish the fight with a quick stab.

"Hope is not lost, the Alliance will destroy the Empire" Kenobi stated sternly as he edged closer to Vader, glaring right at the dark mask.

"With Luke at my side, the Empire will triumph" Vader declared. Something changed right there, as he felt the force exploded with surprise as the Jedi's eyes before him widened. So he had not taken Luke, he had been so sure...but then he found that it was not surprise of Luke, but the fact that Luke was...alive? Then he found the man was also surprised that he knew about Luke. "Yes" Vader declared as he used the moment of surprise to his advantage. He thrust forward and his blade pushed Kenobi's own blade into the master's eyes, causing him to scream in pain and fall to his knees, trying to rub the pain out. "Victory is mine today, and now with you gone, Luke shall no longer be tempted by the Jedi. Goodbye" he said coldly and then cut sideways, sending Kenobi's head across the floor. Laughing manically, Vader used the force to draw his fallen foe's blade to his hand before walking out of the hanger, ordering a stormtrooper to have the corpse sent aboard the _Devastator_.

/

Bail watched with a slight wiriness as they jumped away from the Death Star. After planting their bombs, Bail had found that Leia had already been sprung by another group of rebels. Deciding that Leia would know to go to Yavin, Bail ordered them back to the shuttles. He was still surprised that they had gotten off that bucket in one piece, but then again, there had already been confusion from the other rebel group _and_ their X-wing raid. Sighing, he collapsed into a seat that was bolted into the wall and waited for their ship to return to Yavin so he could rejoin his daughter there.

/

Vader scowled at the display of information before him. Luke was meditating in his own quarters at the moment and he had been given the honorary duty of going over the data of the damage to the Death Star since Tarkin was in the medical bay, wounded from a falling metal roofing plate. If only it had been a bit heavier...

The rebels had obliterated entire sections and badly damaged others, the bombs themselves had been old and damaged, but they still packed enough of a punch to literally tear the station up. It was mostly in the middle of the station though, since that was the area that the hangers were in and easiest to deploy the bombs from.

Sadly the princess had escaped and the Emperor was furious about that fact, as well as not being able to make Alderaan an example because of the damage done to the main laser. However he was pleased to know Kenobi had died.

Scowling once more, Vader cursed Tarkin's entire family line as he picked up another data pad to be read from the stack on the small desk in his office, even though he rarely needed the office, it had been installed as his quarters were an upper officer suite. "One day" he muttered, thinking about killing Tarkin and the relief to his life it would bring.


	5. Chapter 5: Reunited and Informed

_Dark Order: The New Empire_

_Chapter 5: Reunited and Informed_

Vader spun slowly around in his meditation sphere's chair, his annoying helmet once more over his horribly scarred face as he watched a man walk into his chambers, clad in the standard uniform of the Imperial Officer, but with a 501st pin as well as an Aide pin stuck side by side under his lieutenant rank. "Skywalker is secure in his quarters and the ship is mostly undamaged, however the Tie fighters we scrambled suffered three casualties" Lieutenant Lekauf reported. "I believe they had a decent commander of some caliber leading them, sir" he added.

Vader nodded at his aide and gestured for him to come closer. "I am resigning you to him temporarily" Vader said as he detected surprise and confusion in the man. He had served Vader loyally for years so far, why would the Dark Lord change his mind now? "I am appointing you as his personal body guard and Aide for the time being" Vader continued as the man continued to conceal his emotions, but Vader could still feel the man's slight pain at being thrown away, even if Vader really wasn't, though for the man's loyalties sake, he would have to fix that. "I am sending him to Vjun Lekauf, he is to be trained" he explained. The man nodded, sensing that the boy was more important then just a prisoner or some runaway politician's son. "He is my son" he said lowly, making sure that only Lekauf heard him.

The same flare in the force of surprise, as well as understanding and shock, came over the man's force signature as he straightened, now that he realized he was not being cast aside, but rather being trusted incredibly. "Of course milord" Lekauf said plainly. "I shall make sure your so- the boy is taken care of" he said, still surprised that his lord had a son, and that he was a dirt poor peasant one too. Lekauf, however, did not dwell on this, as he knew his lord too well to think of things not for his own mind. He had been trusted enough to know such a powerful secret, he would not break that trust now.

Vader mentally nodding at the man's reaction, continued. "Make sure that his things are packed and that all traces of him are gone. Then take a shuttle, only the two of you, to Vjun" Vader ordered. "Actually, send him in here and then prep the shuttle" Vader corrected himself.

The lieutenant nodded and saluted. "Of course milord" he said and then spun on his heel and exited the chambers of Darth Vader. Once outside, he made his way towards the young man's room, wondering how much work this was going to give him to do.

/

Luke entered Darth Vader's quarters quietly as he watched the Sith rise from his meditation sphere. The armored warrior turned and walked over to where Luke stood and stopped close enough to converse with him. "You wanted to see me, master?" Luke asked questioningly. Vader had told him that it was customary to use the title 'Master' when going through the training Luke had sworn to complete. It felt a bit weird, but he was adjusting to it, despite having only been under Vader's custody for five short days.

"Yes" Vader said. This was the tricky part. He had originally wanted to just tell Luke, but even now, having started his training, it would do no good. He had to send Luke away, as he was still busy with the rebels and he was not fully trained, and Vader did not have the time. So he would send him to his personal retreat on Vjun, where one of his personal Dark Jedi apprentices could do it for him until he would be able to personally oversee his training.

"I am going to send you somewhere" Vader began as he felt a flicker of doubt in his son. "I will be unable to train you personally for some time, since I will have to go and report to the Emperor about this incident" Vader said, meaning the Death Star's damage and the princess's escape, "So I am sending you to my fortress in the outer rim" Vader explained. "You will be trained there until I will be able to complete your training myself" Vader finished.

His son was obviously very confused, and a bit hurt. Perhaps he was just upset that his mentor was going away and now he would have to weight to learn more about his father. He still cared little for the training, only as long as he learned more about his father. He also seemed a bit hurt over the possibility of being cast away, that Vader had lost interest in helping him.

"I will continue to search for your father" Vader explained, sensing the boy flare up a bit at this idea. "Now go, your shuttle awaits you in the private hanger" Vader explained and watched his son go. Luke could potentially decide he didn't want to wait and might try and flee and find his father on his own. Vader would have to make sure that his son stayed on Vjun. He would simply keep him occupied with training, that would make sure that he didn't think about his mysterious father and did as Vader wanted him to.

/

Leia ran down the ramp of the freighter that had ferried her away from the Death Star and hugged her father tightly. She had been so scared that they might have killed him, since they had captured her, but thankfully, they had not. "I was so scared" she whispered softly, feeling like she was six again and Winter had just played a horrible prank on her and she had run into her father's arms, seeking love and protection.

Bail smiled and hugged her back. "It's ok Leia" he whispered back. He would have to send word to his wife that he had gotten Leia back. That she was safe.

Leia nodded and then, like a switch had been thrown, she was back to her 'Alliance Leader' mode and slowly extracted herself from the comforting arms of her father and walked over to Mon Mothma, Garm Bel Ibilis and some of the other rebel leaders, intending to get caught up to speed on what had happened so far.

_Now all we have to do is destroy that Death Star once and for all_, Bail thought as he walked closer to join the group as they quickly caught Leia up while several rebels took the R2 unit inside the massive rebel base inside the Massassi temple.

/

Luke watched as the Imperial Shuttle he was on left the hangar bay of the Imperial Star Destroyer and began to accelerate away as the Lieutenant in the pilot seat began to set a course for the planet Luke only knew as Vjun. He had, like most children growing up around Anchorage, heard stories about the planet from spacers that showed up in the local cantinas, shops and other places Luke had either been hanging around or working in. Sometimes both.

The planet was supposedly covered in acid, with acid lakes and a fiery atmosphere. The oceans were toxic and the only town on the planet had been abandoned long ago. And to make things even more unappealing, they had said that Darth Vader had taken up residence there, which was a good enough reason to keep away from it for most.

"So" Luke said, trying to start a conversation up, so he wouldn't be staring at empty space for the next ten hours, as the reader had said when the coordinates had been set. "Are you going to drop me off and head back? Or is someone else going to get me in orbit?" he asked.

"Actually" the lieutenant said, "I'm going all the way with you" he said.

"Really?" Luke asked, surprised.

"Of course" the lieutenant stated. "Lord Vader wanted someone he could trust to watch over you while he's away" he said. "Your father was very close to Lord Vader" Lekauf said, having been given a brief explanation by Vader just before the boy had boarded about what the boy knew and what he was to say to him.

Luke nodded, fighting tears as he thought of his still missing father. "Of course" Luke said and turned his chair to look at the stars. Suddenly, he didn't want to talk all that much.

Lekauf watched him stare at the stars for a few seconds before he returned his attention to where it belonged. He activated the hyperdrive controls and watched as the stars streaked by at the pull of the handle.


	6. Chapter 6: Arrival on Vjun

_Dark Order: The New Empire_

_Chapter 6: Arrival on Vjun_

"Coming up on Vjun" Lekuaf said to himself as the ship dropped. Hitting a button, he turned on the shipboard com. "Skywalker, were about to land, might want to come up here" he said as the Vjun Fortress hailed him. Skywalker had taken to the cargo hold to get some sleep, and probably to think about everything that had happened in the last few days.

As the airtight door between the hold and the cockpit slid open silently, a blond haired young man stepped inside, looking tired and groggy as Lekauf accepted the hail.

"Unknown flight, this is Vjun Tower Control, state your course, identification and clearance code or you will be fired upon" the com barked out at the lieutenant, who sat calmly behind the console.

"Vjun Tower Control, this is V-2, we are making a direct course for landing pad Charlie" Lekauf said as he sent in his clearance code to the tower while Skywalker sat down in the unoccupied co-pilot seat.

"Very well V-2" the tower control operator said. "What is your cargo and crew?" the operator asked and Lekauf knew he was asking if Vader was aboard.

"I am carrying special cargo from high deliverer" Lekauf said, using the, rather outdated, code words as he directed the shuttle for the fortress's location. "Myself and the package are the only ones aboard" Lekauf explained as he powered the shields to full as they hit atmosphere.

"Very well V-2, you are clear for Charlie. Have a fun ride, escort is on the way" the operator said.

Lekauf relaxed as the shuttle broke atmosphere and heard his passenger gasp in surprise. "I know" he said with a slightly amused chuckle. "I thought the same my first time here" he stated.

Before the shuttle, there was a massive, sprawling green forest of ancient, kilometer tall trees that rose over the hills below and around the near endless sea of green. To their immediate left was a large, metallic city with massive towers, their thousands of glass windows gleaming in the bright sunlight as dozens of birds flew over the woods, passing the shuttle's viewpoint as Luke caught sight of two Tie fighters fly past them, spin around and then right themselves next to either side of the shuttle. Before Luke could even fully grasp all of the features of the planet, they shot over the edge of a cliff. The edge of the cliff had large rivers emptying over the edge in giant cascading waterfalls of crystal blue water that crashed, kilometers upon kilometers, below into the bright ocean below, where several large creatures of some sort were shooting out of the water and into the air before crashing into the ocean once more.

There were clumps of rocks all along the side of a massive coast on the left of the shuttle, where Luke guessed a trail or some road led up to the city as there were large numbers of people moving up and down the pearly white beach as well as what appeared to be children swimming in the tall, soft waves.

Amazed, Luke turned to see they were approaching another marvel.

Dozens of large stone pillars stood magnificently over the thunderous crash of the mighty waves. The pillars all surrounded a larger, so large that it almost dwarfed the others, pillar that, on the top showed a huge compound set on a large grassy patch of ground that seemed to have been placed on the pillar, rather then actually being a part of the pillar itself.

The compound itself was a massive, almost mound looking building with bristling gun turrets, massive windows and sleek hangar bays all along the sides. In the rear of the fortress, there was a large tower with more defenses and windows as well as a few private hangars at the very top point of the large tower. There were dozens of parade grounds and smaller drill yards set up before, beside and behind the large fortress. Luke also saw defensive emplacements and what appeared to be windows to a interconnected tunnel system as well as landing pads all around the large pillar that held the entire fortress and it's large patch of ground.

Obviously, this was their destination and Luke's new home.

"You'll get used to it" Lekauf said to Luke as he guided the shuttle towards one of the smaller landing pads on the side of the large pillar, both of the Tie fighters that were escorting them broke off at this point. He cut the main engines and used only the small maneuvering thrusters to guide it onto the landing pad that already had a shuttle crew awaiting the vessel so they could refuel and rearm the behemoth for it's next duty, or for a short trip to the main hangar bays where it would be stored and maintained until needed.

The shuttle finally landed and Luke and Lekauf gathered what belongings they had and then waited until the ramp had lowered before walking down the metal slate onto the metal landing pad with tons of solid rock directly beneath it.

"Sirs" a mechanical voice said and Luke watched as a man, wearing an Imperial captain's rank walked forward, with a pair of droids on either side of him. One was checked in black and red, while the other was solid steel colored and showed signs of battle scars and dents while the other droid, the checkered one had not a single dent or smudge of dirt on it's metal plating. Both droids had some symbol plastered on their shoulder and chest plates. The checkered droid, the one who had addressed both Luke and Lekauf, spoke up. "Both of your suites have been prepared and all other preparations have been made in advance sir" the droid said, looking at Lekauf.

The lieutenant nodded and saluted the captain, who saluted back. "This" Lekauf said. "Is Solis" he said, indicating the beaten up looking droid. "He is head of Fortress security" Lekauf explained. "And this" he pointed his finger at the other droid. "Is Fidelis, the head chef here" Lekauf finished.

"And i" the captain said. "Am Captain Berruk, head of the fourteenth Royal Guard Company of the 501st" the man said. "I am also the senior executive officer planet side until Commander Jork returns and will be in charge of training you while you are with us" Captain Berruk said. The man had a darkish tan, as well as a dark brown beard and muscular form, at his side was a pistol and, now that he was looking for it, Luke could see a small pin that had 501st plated on it.

"Sirs" Fidelis spoke up. "If you do not mind, your lunch is prepared in the main dining room, shall I heat it up? Or would you prefer I save it for dinner? I do not know the last time you ate any-"

"Yes" Lekauf said quickly, knowing the droid could go on for hours. "We would love for you to heat up the meal, have it ready by the time I have shown master Skywalker his rooms" Lekauf ordered. "Captain" he saluted and walked off, Luke tailing behind him as the Captain bowed to Luke.

/

"Wow" Luke said as he looked at his new massive quarters. The walls were a dark wood and the floors were also a matching dark wood with thick red carpets lined with golden Imperial emblems in the corners and the center. The room had a large bed made of the same dark wood that had a thick mattress that was covered in red silk and satin sheets, with blood red pillows lining the back.

There was also a large desk with a holo net computer set up on it's wooden surface. Across from the desk was a massive bookshelf with old looking books and documents. In the corner of the room across from his bed, there was a projector that could act as a transmitter so Luke could contact someone if he needed to, as well as a galactic map.

On the left wall, between the bed and the desk, there was a well made arc that led into a long walk in closet that held black outfits, mostly tunics, pants, robes and other items like leather belts, hoods and gloves that Luke had come to see as the uniforms that Sith wore when they were undergoing the training that would make them full Sith.

Beside that door, a bit more closer to the desk, there was another door that led into a fresher with crystal handles and knobs on the inside of the unit. Back in his room, there were banners and maps on the walls that showed the Empire and it's glory. However, despite the large amount of wealth and quantity of things Luke had barely ever thought of dreaming about, he was still drawn to the large glass window at the far wall, opposite of the door that led out of the room. The window was really a large sliding glass door that led out onto a small wooden balcony which had a equally small table set on it's wooden surface.

"It is impressive, is it not?" Lekauf asked as Luke nodded excitedly, all his worries and fears leaving his mind for the moment at the prospect of getting to sleep in this expensive room.

Experimenting with the galactic map would most likely be the first thing he would do once he had a chance to-

"Well, take a quick shower, dress in a fresh set of cloths and we'll head down for dinner as soon as your done" Lekauf told Luke before turning around and exiting the room, shutting the wooden door silently as he went.

Luke took in a breath, then gathered a fresh set of clothing, surprised that it fit him so well, but then again, Vader had measurements made for him after he had first had trouble fitting into the rather large robes and tunic.

He then placed the articles of clothing on the counter in the fresher before stripping down and stepping inside the fresher. Once inside, he sealed the door and turned the white crystal knob, causing ice cold water to spill forth from the nozzle. Luke sighed in joy as he relaxed instantly. Being a native of Tatooine, he wasn't used to anything but hot air and the quick hot baths that he got, which lasted only long enough to clean the majority of the loose dirt off him. And he only got one once every two months. So obviously, this was heaven to him.

Luke simply stayed under the shower for a decent time, not washing or cleaning himself up, just enjoying the cold water. After a while, he finally finished his shower and got dressed before exiting his room. Now how was he supposed to let Lekauf know he was done? _I guess I'll just have to explore until I find him_, Luke thought as he started walking down a well decorated hallway, which had rich golden, red and black tapestries hanging from the roofs, exotic paintings and sculptures hung from the walls and stood against them, respectively.

After a few minutes, he came to a wooden set of doors that Luke knew had a large turbo lift behind it, which would lead down to the rest of the compound, as the entire floor was the top most level of the tower on the rear of the compound. As there had been before, he saw two men in uniforms, that consisted of slick black boots polished to a shine, with a black tunic, with blue stripes on the shoulders, over black trousers, with the same blue stripes going from the hip to the ankle, and long black gloves, standing on either side of the doors, pistols in holsters on their sides and rifles set against their right shoulders. Both had on caps and looked straight ahead.

"Excuse me" Luke asked as he stopped before them. "Would you know where Lieutenant Lekauf is?" he asked, struggling for a second on remembering the name that had just recently been placed inside his head.

"Yes Sir" the man on the right said, only his mouth moving, the rest was ram rod straight and unflinching. "He is in his quarters. Down the hall to the left, third door on the right" he said and Luke thanked him before following his directions to where the Lieutenant's room was supposed to be.

It took him a few minutes to find the door, but he finally did and it opened to find the Lieutenant looking a bit tired, and most likely as hungry as Luke was, but still crisp and alert. "Ah" he said calmly when he saw Luke. "I see your ready to eat, shall we?" he asked and the two men headed back down the hall and came before the double wooden doors, where Luke saw both men in uniform snap crisp salutes at the Lieutenant, who returned them in kind before the guard to the left hit a button, causing the wooden doors to slide to the sides, revealing a metal door. The door then slid into three parts, one down, one to the left and one to the right, revealing the lift door, which slid up.

Luke and Lekauf stepped inside and watched as the triple row of doors sealed, then felt the lift descend hundreds of floors and then stop softly. A second later and the lift door opened, this time revealing a three way steel corridor. On either side of the lift door were two guards, both in the same colored uniform. In the corridors before them, men wearing the same uniform, with some variations of rank and accessories and different caps, walked among the fortress staff and servants, as well as various droids of varying sizes, who were scurrying around the feet of their human overlords to deliver data or messages to someone on the other end of the compound.

Lekauf walked out into the hallway with Luke and took the left corridor, following it as men saluted him and got out of both his and Luke's way. Soon they came to a large double door, also made of metal. The door slid open to reveal a dining room, which had a group of servants setting a table made of the same dark wood, which Luke had seen none of since descending to this floor of the compound, with both his and Lekauf's meals.

The two men sat at the table, sitting in the middle, across from one another. The meal started with some sort of stew, which Lekauf explained to him was called Shang Stew. Luke found that it was very good and made a mental note to ask for this again. Almost immediately into the dinner or late lunch, Lekauf spoke up. "Lord Vader has appointed me to, along with my normal duties, to teach you proper etiquette" he said. "To start off with" he began. "You do not eat so quickly during a meal, nor do you lower your head or wolf any food down" Lekauf instructed, recalling his lessons from his academy days. "You eat slowly and gracefully, like this" he showed Luke by taking deliberately slow eating motions. "Also, you should cut and eat your food like this" again he demonstrated, and saw that Skywalker was not, in any way, insulted and seemed to be doing his very best to take it all in and mimic it. He had to give him some credit. For a man who had never really lived in royalty, he picked things up relatively well, though he was still making key mistakes.

Lekauf continued to instruct him through most of the dinner. By the time desert came, they had finished an entire Karkana Fillet, as well as a plate of Scrimpi, which was a very spicy, meaty dish before they were treated to a dish of Crêpes Malreaux with a side dish of Acid-Beet, which was Fidelis' specialty. After that entire meal, which to both Luke and Lekauf was a colossal amount of food, they sat and gingerly ate at the Stenness Pie.

As they finally hit a break in the instructions of how to eat, Luke finally asked what had been tugging at his mind for awhile. "Lekauf?" he asked. "Why is Vjun...so perfect" he asked. "I had always heard it was a horribly ruined place" he stated.

"That is because that is what Lord Vader wants the galaxy to think" Lekauf explained. "You see, Vader found this world years ago and established it as his private retreat from the galaxy. Problem was, there were already people here" he said. "So Vader made a deal with them. He would allow the natives living here to remain here, as long as half their food, minerals were contributed to him and they had to enlist one member of their family in the Imperial Armed Forces" Lekauf stated. "So, to logically keep this place secret, he placed all of the recruits enlisted here into the 501st, which is Vader's personal battalion and guard" he explained. "Vader had his spies spread lies throughout the galaxy and even had fake evidence and images made to make the rumor that Vjun was a evil place more believable" Lekauf said with a crooked grin.

"Worked so far, and will most likely always work. The people are loyal to Vader, and have no real intent to leave their community, so there's no reason their family members would ever talk about the world outside of the 501st, which is also very loyal to Lord Vader" Lekauf said, his voice thick with respect and admiration.

"Now, we really should retire" Lekauf stated as he rose. "Tomorrow you will start your training with Captain Berruk, who will oversee your hand to hand first thing after breakfast tomorrow" Lekauf said and Luke rose as well and the two men exited the dining room.

/

"Order!" Mon Mothma shouted as the Alliance to Restore the Republic's ruling council slowly quieted down. Sighing in relief, Mon gestured at General Rieekan to start his briefing.

"As you all know, the Death Star was damaged during our operation to free princess Leia" he said as some of the council members eyes fell to Leia, who sat at the front of the circular table in the center of the room. "The station was moved to Tarkus II for repairs and is currently guarded by a unknown number of Imperial Ships" he said, "one Imperial Destroyer has been confirmed however" he added, watching as the room sparked with debate, only to be quelled by Mothma's quick tongue. "I realize the threat that battle station represents, but we must also consider the fact that we have only a few dozen X-wings, Y-Wings and the out dated Head Hunters, with only a dozen or so larger ships, most of them being corvettes" Rieekan stated. "I think we should wait until we can decide the full defensive capabilities the Empire has there, then strike" he said.

There were mummers of agreement from the council members before Mothma silenced them. "A vote" she said. "All in favor of waiting until we can analyze the Death Star data more thoroughly as well as more time to plan, raise your hands" she said and relaxed when she saw the majority of the room raise their hands. She knew attacking the Empire blind was certain suicide for their pilots. "We will wait then" she said calmly as the council bell went off, signaling the meeting was over.

/

Like it? REVIEW


	7. Chapter 7: Wake up call

_Dark Order: The New Empire_

_Chapter 7: Wake Up Call_

Luke grumbled softly as he was gently woken up from his near perfect sleep. He had dreamed of his father, who would come to him with Vader and embrace him, only for the dream to end with his father walking right through him and vanishing as he spun around and tried to follow after him.

Blinking his eyes a few times, to clear his vision, he found Solis standing beside his bed, having obviously been the one who had awoken him. The droid bowed slightly when it noticed Luke was fully awake. "Sir, I am sorry to wake you, but Lieutenant Lekauf stated that you should be awoken, showered and dressed for breakfast in half an hour and I was to make sure you were awake" the droid explained, sounding almost as if it were sorry to have disturbed him.

Shaking his head, Luke tossed the idea aside. "Thank you" he said as he rose and headed into the closet, still a bit awkward about the sheer number of the same cloths he had at his disposal. He could probably go a month or two in clean outfits, and never have to wash any of the ones he had previously used.

Realizing he was just standing there, and had been for several minutes, Luke quickly gathered together a fresh outfit, just like the one he had worn the other day of the dark clothing and leather gloves, boots and belts before removing his only article of clothing, a pair of long silk pants, and entered the fresher.

Ten minutes later and he was just finishing getting dressed when Solis appeared again, alerting him that he was there to escort him to breakfast. Thanking the droid again, even though Luke had no idea why he was doing it, Luke followed the droid down the hall, then the into the elevator and all of the passages that followed until they arrived at the same dinning room as before.

"Ah, awake and ready for your first day of training I see" Lekauf said as he hid a grin, seeing the somewhat sleepy look in the boy's eyes. He had a cold shower yes, but even cold water had trouble waking Luke from bed, since he had, since as long as he could remember, slept better then ever before.

Luke simply murmured something unintelligible before sitting down across from Lekauf, who had just finished his main dish, which was some sort of soft bread like circle with butter and a semi transparent brown liquid splattered all over the bread.

Luke, having just arrived, was immediately served this dish and he barely resisted the urge to cram it down his throat at the rich and exotic smell. Whatever the stuff was, it was delicious.

After Luke had finished that dish, a smaller dish of warm, powerful smelling broth was brought in. "It's got herbs in it that will keep you going through your training today" Lekauf explained as they drank the surprisingly tasty and addicting broth. "It will also wake you up real fast" he added after Luke's eyes started to water as the incredibly spicy contents hidden in the broth hit his system. After a few seconds, Lekauf managed to quell his brief laughter. "It'll go away soon" he assured Luke, who was glaring at him as he, at the same time, tried to drink so much water, that the burning would go away, quiet a feet actually. "Your supposed to sip it slowly" Lekauf said as Luke finally became satisfied that the hot embers that had somehow made it into his mouth in the form of the broth had gone out.

Nodding, somewhat grimly, Luke sipped it much slower and felt, oddly enough, a warm heat cover his mouth, then slowly fade away, leaving no pain in it's wake this time. It was almost like small bombs, but with no pain, only heat.

"Better?" The lieutenant asked, causing Luke to grumble as he caught the barely hidden grin the man was trying, and failing, to desperately conceal.

/

"This is the best shot we have?" Mon Mothma asked as she, Leia and Bail Organa, Generals Riekaan and Dodonna, Admiral Caso, the first commander of the Alliance's ships they had pulled together from all over their supporting worlds, and several of the more political members of the high council of the Alliance to Restore the Republic.

"Sadly, yes" Dodonna said as they watched dozens upon dozens of small star fighters fly around the Death Star. There was at least four times the amount of Tie's pouring out of the station, firing at the Alliance's fighters. As the battle sped up by a control in Dodonna's hands, they watched as a single fighter flew down a trench on the surface, before firing a proton torpedo, which flew inside the Death Star through a small hatch, then detonated deep within the station. The fire ball claimed the star fighter that had delivered the fatal shot. As the simulation ended, only three or four star fighters on the Alliance's side limped away, some jumping to light speed, others just trying to escape with damaged drives. And this had been the best case scenario.

"How can we send our pilots out now? Knowing this is what awaits them?" Caso asked, obviously concerned. These would be his boys they would be sending out there, most likely to die by the dozens.

"Surely you can see the chance we have here?" Riekaan said. "Men and star ships can be replaced, but worlds can't!" he argued. "If we destroy the station now, we can save more lives then we would ever lose in this assault" he stated.

Caso was quick to argue back. "Because these men are loyal soldiers and have served us to their best abilities and have lost friends in this war, and now you want to just throw all they have worked for just to save us from a weapon the Empire was never going to use! They wanted the weapon's power as a tool for terror! We don't even know if it really worked!" he snapped.

"Intel reported that it was charging up power for the main laser, it was at full battle readiness status. It _is_ a threat" Rieekan replied, a bit harshly.

"Quiet!" Mothma snapped at the two as the room fell to silence. Mon rarely snapped at anyone with anger in her voice. "Bickering will never accomplish anything" she stated. "The station was prepared to fire on Alderaan" she stated, catching a flinch in both Bail and his daughter's features. "And we will loose men, good men, in this assault" she agreed, indicating Caso. "_But_ it is a necessary loss" she stressed, trying to convince the Admiral. "You cannot gain anything without losing anything" she quoted to Caso, reciting a favorite phrase of hers from an old Alderaani Politician back during the Great Hyperspace War's early stages.

"Still" Caso said, only slightly subdued as he watched with sad eyes as the fighters were destroyed in the replay of the simulation, which was on a six minute cycle.

"If there were any other way, then I would do it in a heartbeat" Mon Mothma assured him. "But the fact is that station is almost impenetrable with the fleet that is now covering it, our only hope is to hit that vent" she said.

"Yes, but what of the effects the explosion could cause the planet it is orbiting?" Bail asked as the council switched away from the recent heated debate between general and admiral.

/

A bit later, Luke was pushing away the last of his meal when Captain Berruk came in. "Sir I trust you are ready to begin" he said and Luke, a bit taken back by the 'Sir' in the sentence, nodded.

Berruk then turned around and, now that he had stood up, was followed by Luke out of the dinning room and then through a few crowded metal corridors before arriving at a turbo lift, albeit a smaller one.

Squeezing inside, the two men quickly descended along the edge of the main pillar under the base, before the lift stopped and they exited, coming out of a short tunnel of living rock to a platform connected to the large pillar. The platform overlooked the sea and had an expansive garden covering it, with a ring of small stone pillars about thigh high in the far right corner, a waterfall pouring into a pool surrounding it, adding to a serene like feeling to the obvious sparring ring, with a breath taking backdrop of the huge ocean and landmass in the distance, with the native city barely able to be made out. Luke made a mental note to find out the name of the city.

"Alright" the captain said as he stepped into the ring. "Let's see what you can do" he then threw off his captain's jacket, leaving him in trousers and a sleeveless black undershirt, which looked almost like a top half of a stealth suit.

Luke nodded and, having gone through a few brawls when he had been in the less admirable places of Anchorage, which was really anywhere, stepped into the ring with a bit of confidence. The Captain didn't look old, but he had always been able to see a blow coming before it came, every now and again. From what Vader had told him of this 'Force' he was supposed to be able to control, he guessed that was what it was, and if not, he would still-

Wham!

Luke blinked a few minutes before realizing he was now laying on his side and that the Captain's fist was now imprinted on the side of his cheek. Grunting, he sprung up and ran at the Captain, only to be thrown aside by a graceful twist of his leg, arm and abdomen.

Standing up again, Luke tried the same tactic, only for the same result of being thrown to the ground, this time with a knee to the gut.

Coughing, he stood up shakily and eyed his opponent for a way to get at him, for a way to actually hit him. However the first hit he had taken to the head was leaving him disoriented and confused as he missed the Captain rushing him. Blinking, he tried to evade the fast fist, only to get it square in the chest, sending him flat out of the ring and into the pool with a loud splash.

Sputtering and groaning as he shot out of the rather nicely cold water, Luke spat out a mouthful of the once mesmerizing substance before standing up at the edge of the pool.

"You did good" the Captain said. "You obviously have no training, but we can fix that, but you showed talent" he said. "Now we go on to the more fun exercises" he stated and Luke suddenly felt a bit more worried then he had before.

/

Like it? WELL then REVIEW!


	8. Chapter 8: Guest

_Dark Order: The New Empire_

_Chapter 8: Guest_

**DISCLAIMER: For those of you that are major Star Wars fanatics, I fully know that I am completely screwing up Ryloth and how it was originally designed by Lucas, but I am changing that, this is NOT how Ryloth should be. Heck, I already screwed around with Vjun, just accept that I might do it in the future. Oh, an I only own the stuff I made up, created, ect. I DO NOT own Lucas Films, Star Wars or anything else that isn't mine. So DO NOT try and steal my ideas, and we'll get along nicely.**

**A/N: Sorry about the wait, i thought that this story had been updated, but apparently it had not. I AM DEEPLY SORRY FOR THIS HORRIBLE MISTAKE  
**

The sun rose softly over the world of Vjun as Luke Skywalker cracked an eye open, wishing he had thought to cover his large window slash balcony with the large thick curtains that were at either end of the wall, hanging there to be rolled across the glass surface.

Grunting softly, he rolled out of bed, literally, and landed on the ground where a pre-placed data pad sat. Then he began his push ups.

As he started up his morning wake up exercise, Luke used the force to access the data pad. After talking with Lekauf, he had finally been granted a holo net access, allowing him to read things going on with the rest of the galaxy. It seemed the rebel alliance had been quiet lately, more so then normal as the report suggested. There had also been a group of minor uprisings on Kashyyk, Geonosis, and Mon Calamari.

Going throughout the massive, galaxy spanning network, Luke found that Vader was going to the grand ceremony for the commissioning of the new Imperial II-class Imperial Star Destroyer, which was supposed to be twice as strong, powerful and three times the speed of the older class I's.

Finishing his push ups, Luke hit a button with his actual hand, causing the data pad to transfer it's image to the data tank in the corner of his room as he started stretches. Still reading about these new and more powerful destroyers, he breathed through the stretches and moved on to crunches.

Once he was satisfied, he manipulated the controls with the force once more to watch the latest broadcast of the holo news, who were covering a horrible accident over Anaxes, which had claimed apparently two shuttles.

Changing to pull ups, using the force to hold up a metal training sword, which Berruk had been teaching him to use, Luke listened as the reported described how a shuttle carrying an unknown number of people dropped out of hyperspace, inside another shuttle. The two vessels immediately detonated as their power cores touched, leaving nothing but a twisted hull and some bits of frozen human remains. The reporter stated that they were still trying to figure out who had been in both shuttles, and would get back to the public when-

Luke cut the feed as he finally finished his morning wake up exercise and picked up the data pad and placed it on his wooden table before heading into his closet and grabbing fresh cloths and then heading for the fresher.

As he headed for the fresher, Luke thought about the past two weeks of training he had undergone with Captain Berruk and Lieutenant Lekauf, and to a lesser degree, Fidelis and Solis.

Captain Berruk spend most of the mornings and late afternoons personally training him to be physically fit, which consisted of push ups, various stretches, crunches, pull ups, running, lots more of running, climbing, more running, zero gravity hand to hand and combat logistics and night time stealth maneuvers and infiltration. And, to the amusement of his instructor, he was also taught to swim. Being born and raised on Tatooine, he had no experience with large amounts of water other then the second quick fresher showers he had received. At first, Berruk had thought he was joking, but had quickly discovered the boy was telling the truth and had been put to the test getting Luke into a full swimming shape. However he had done it. And aside from all of the physical training, Luke was also instructed by Berruk on how to use a sword, spear and shield capably, ancient weapons in this age. However Berruk insisted that he learn it, as it might help him some day.

But Berruk was not the only one teaching him. Lekauf, whom he had learned first's name was Lev, had been strenuously teaching him how to use silverware properly, as well as how to eat, what to say, how to say it and when to say it. He had been blown away by the sheer number of things he could, and in the end did, do wrong. But with a bit of persistence, and two and a half weeks of hard work, Luke was finally getting the hang of it.

And then there was Fidelis and Solis. Luke could still, and would, quote Lekauf on exactly the words he had used when describing surviving on his own in the woods. "You are going to learn how to do, that's that." If Luke hadn't known, it was more of a guess really, that his real father was much older then the man before him, he might have actually believed him to be his father, but Lekauf explained he was simply telling him what Vader wanted done. But he had a sneaky suspicion that Lekauf had not gotten orders, probably even permission, to send him off on his own every three days for a full day, expecting him to have somehow constructed a shelter, fire and captured, skinned and eaten at least five different animals by the time he went looking for Luke. He had even sent him to the regions ice cap once just because he scared him when he came into his camp once by jumping out of the shadows from behind.

But, despite the quick lessons he had gotten from Berruk, Fidelis, who had shown him how to build the shelters and build and cook animals on open fires, and Solis, who had naturally shown him how to hunt and fish, as well as how to hit animals with spears or even a small weapon called a blow gun, had been the real help.

Exiting his shower, Luke then walked out his door, sealing it's lock with his hand print before he walked towards the elevator, where the two uniformed soldiers, different ones everyday, snapped a pair of instant salutes, their bodies as rigid and militaristic as usual. Nodding to them, he took the elevator down to deck twelve, which he had learned was where most of the dining rooms were.

Luke really had no idea why the troops he ran into saluted him, or referred to him as 'Sir', but he had decided that is was just something with having arrived with Lieutenant Lekauf, who apparently, despite being only a Lieutenant, was top dog on the base.

He had always thought one rank was the same rank in another branch. But apparently a Colonel in the Army, according to Berruk, was the same thing as a Captain in the Navy. And it was the same with the fact that a lieutenant in Vader's personal guard, a unit within the 501st, his personal battalion, which consisted of only a few dozen men, was, while technically a low rank, in practice a commanding rank.

Stepping out of the elevator and accepting salutes, Luke quickly sped along the metal halls of the fortress, which was filled with the officers, soldiers and droids of both the staff and 501st Stormtrooper Infantry Battalion.

Stopping before another guarded door, Luke watched as the two uniformed soldiers opened the door for him, then entered the room to find Lekauf and Berruk nowhere in sight. This wasn't uncommon, since both were often late to show up, an ironic twist compared to his first days here. Sitting down, Luke waited for a servant to bring him his first dish while he wondered where both Berruk and Lekauf could both possibly be. Berruk might be giving a surprise inspection and Lekauf could be checking on some detail in the fortress's defenses or some other thing.

As finsihg his first dish, which was a delicious Smoked Terrafin Loin, with scrambled Vakiir eggs plastered onto the side of plate, along with a few warm rolls, Luke looked around. He was now begging to feel uneasy. Where were they?

Suddenly, as if the galaxy was listening in to him, Fidelis appeared through a side door and bowed, something he had learned that both the droids, Fidelis and Solis, had picked up and done on their own, and that it was not, in fact, programed into their command system network.

"Sir" the droid said politely. "Captain Berruk and Lieutenant Lekauf request your presence on the southern side of the fortress, landing pad delta, sub level twenty fifty" the droid reported.

Luke nodded and thanked the droid before heading out of the room, heading with as much patience as he could muster. Had the time finally come? Had Vader found his father? Was he here? These thoughts raced through Luke's head as well as others while on his way to the platform, which was one of the lowest landing pads on the entire main pillar.

Minutes later and the blond haired man was walking out of a small corridor of stone and walking out into bright sunlight and a cool breeze as he stepped onto the metal bridge that was connected to the platform. True to the droids word, both the Captain and Lieutenant were standing near one edge of the platform as Luke saw them staring at something cresting over the horizon.

It was a shuttle.

The Imperial shuttle glided smoothly over the ocean, the sunlight glinting off the polished durasteel of the craft. For a moment, Luke wondered what his father would think of him, would he like him? Or would he be disgusted? Luke was so consumed in thoughts of his father that he barely realized the shuttle had settled smoothly on the surface of the landing platform.

Here it was. The time. He was finally going to meet his father.

Luke was sure of it and watched the ramp lower with extreme attention, thoughts racing a million miles an hour inside his head. He watched a darkly robbed form walk down the ramp gracefully as little alarms went off inside his head. The figure didn't seem right, it almost was as if...

Luke felt his hopes crash and burn as he felt his world rip up a bit as the hood was thrown back. The figure had red hair and dull gray, with hints of emerald green sparkled around, eyes.

The figure was a women.

/

The odd alien birds of Ryloth chirped softly as the sun crested down from it's perch and began the cycle that was hours long that would cause the giant, golden globe to descend behind the rigid mountains in the backdrop of the notorious crime lord, Tyber Zann.

The crime lord himself sat in a simple chair of stone, tipping it back on it's rear pegs every so often, watching as the heat of the day subsided and the planet became cool as a breeze blew heavily, nearly toppling the potted plants from various worlds that Tyber had placed in small glass, air conditioned, domes to keep them alive in the hot world of Ryloth.

Turning his head ever so slightly as he heard the glass door open behind him, he received a warm, almost lusty or sultry, kiss that lasted several minutes before he felt his lover drop in his lap, wrapping her arms around his neck with a sly grin on her mouth.

"Prince _Xizor_ requests your presence" Silri said softly, blinking at him as she ran her hands down the back of his shirt, stopping at the edge of his belt. "But it could wait..." she said slowly, staring at him.

Tyber considered this for a minute, but in the end shook his head. "Later" he said and stood up, Silri wrapping herself around his side, her hands dropping very close to a very important area of Zann's anatomy.

Tyber tried to ignore the evil temptress that was clinging to him as he walked into his large, shielded and heavily air conditioned estate and found a droid moving towards him, an image of Xizor, leader of the powerful Black Sun organization, projecting from it's eye slot.

"Ah Xizor" Tyber said with fake enthusiasm, as if he was greeting the man as an old friend, not an enemy. "What can a man as humble as myself do for you?" he said with a small grin.

Xizor scowled at his fellow crime lord. "You disgust me human" he said matter of factly. "Play your games with someone else, if you so desire, but I have come with an offer and am in no mood to be toyed with" he said, a bit harshly.

Tyber wondered if the Falleen had woken up on the wrong side of the bed, maybe Vader had been exceptionally mean to the alien today, because he was normally more calm and collected then this, as far as Zann knew anyways.

"Well then" he said, a bit more coldly. "What do you _request_ of me" he said, practically slapping the other crime lord in the face with the comment.

Xizor was obviously mad, because he made a visible effort to stay calm. "I" he said, "Wish to recruit you in my plan to ruin Vader in the eyes of the Emperor" he said, stressing each word slightly.

Tyber rolled his eyes. "Of course" he said. "Because that has worked out _wonderfully_ for everyone else who has tried _that_" he said with a large dose of sarcasm. Off handily, he wondered if Xizor could see Silri's rapidly lowering hand on his hip. Well now it was his inner thigh, or was at the moment...

Xizor growled. "I will reward you with a large bounty if you can use your resources to capture the rebel Garm Bel Ibilis" Xizor said. "He recently stole a powerful prototype tank from Vader and if I can present him to the Emperor, Vader will be ruined at best, or at worst he will have a damaged connection to the power the Emperor gives him. Either way I win and he loses" Xizor said.

Tyber, who knew Silri would explode with her lust in a second and do something that he would rather not have witnessed by Xizor, nodded. "I'll think about it" he said and watched as the connection shut off. Once the droid had run off to do some duty, Silri was immediately in his ear.

"Our room. _Now_" she ordered as she half pulled, half dragged him to the large master bedroom in the far corner of his estate, obviously she was in a very good mood about something. "_Hurry_" she said, her voice filled with need as she left no room to argue once they reached the door and began to mess with his shirt, not that Tyber would argue with this anyways.

/

Far off in the complete other side of the galaxy, the dark form of Darth Vader, Enforcer of the Empire and Palpatine's will, sat deep in thought in his personally modified, sleek metal orb that resembled a sort of claw or bulky crab, which was far up in the highest levels of his palace's North Eastern Tower on Coruscant. With his helmet off, Vader could breath air freely, medicated air, but he was not trapped in the tormenting metal coffin for a bit, and that was worth it.

His thoughts swirled around his son. He couldn't bring the boy here, Palpatine would feel his presence before he even was fully out of hyperspace. And he couldn't bring him to Byss, no, not until the boy could hide himself well enough. However he was aching to see his boy. There were thousands of questions he wanted to ask.

But the most important one, the boy could not answer.

_In your anger...it seems you...killed her_

Vader had heard that voice far to many times. Had heard his painful scream and the destruction that had followed. Palpatine had lied! He had sworn Padme had died on that landing platform, his unborn child still in her stomach.

He had seen the funeral and seen the bulge. He had been sure his child was dead. And now, out of nowhere, he had appeared to him. The force's will was painted on this picture like stars in the darkness of space.

Vader sighed and tried to figure out his confused emotions.

Somehow, despite the odds, Padme had lived long enough to give birth to a son, but how? And where? And who had...

Vader realized instantly that Obi-Wan, after leaving him to die on that lava encroaching bank of hot black sand and dirt, must have taken his pregnant wife and had his child taken from her before she died, then he had taken him to Tatooine, to raise him to hate Vader. It was so like the Jedi. To preach kindness, but to only use that old ruse to fool the unsuspecting.

Growling, Vader worked hard to keep his emotions under control. Even here, in his own palace, Palpatine would be searching him periodically to make sure that he was not plotting against him. To make sure he was still in line.

Did he know? Vader thought. Did he know his son had been alive and had ignored it? Or was it more likely that he had just lie and hope Padme had died, just to keep Vader tied to him and not searching for her?

Deciding that he would not get his answers answered yet, Vader had his helmet placed on his head by the mechanical claw above him before unlocking the sphere. He then keyed in a code and watched as a small hologram of Lekauf appeared on the far wall, staring at Vader with a slight bit of surprise. "Lieutenant" Vader stated coldly. "I trust my agent has arrived" he demanded.

The man nodded crisply. "Yes Milord. She has arrived and is currently dining with the boy" the man reported.

Vader nodded, feeling slightly odd at the thought of his son dinning with the woman, who against his better judgment was _very_ close to his son's age, a bit too close, but shrugged the thought aside. "Good" he said, keeping his thoughts and emotions neutral as he spoke. "I will come for him in a few months" Vader said. "I trust that everything will be ready by then" he said, his tone indicating that he would not accept failure.

Lekauf nodded. "Of course sir" he said smoothly as he wondered how they would ever get done in time. "We shall be ready for your arrival" he confirmed, sealing his fate if the boy wasn't ready, but possibly boosting it if the boy was.

/

The soft clink and clack of expensive silverware could be heard in the upper dining hall, which was for only the highest officers and officials, and the few that could, or would, use this room often just ate with the common rank and file, lower officers, or in their own quarters. The room had dark red black walls, solid gold rug covered floors and the entire roof was a solid mirror, adding a sort of odd effect if one were to look up. There were a pair of crystal chandeliers hanging from the roof and Imperial tapestries, war trophies of Vader and statues lined the room's roof and walls, respectively.

Luke put a forkful of some sort of native Vjun fish into his mouth. The fish had a solid black body, golden fins and a sort of silver/blue hair color, which was just really the scales around it's head. Despite the odd look, it was delightfully exotic tasting and seemed to explode with greasy, slightly salted flavor.

Across from him, the red haired women, who had removed her robe, was in the simple red and black light sparring pants and undershirt she had been wearing under her robe and cloak, was sipping a bright red drink from a clear crystal glass, the red making her cherry red lipstick and rosy lips already more blood red then before.

"So" Luke began. The two had hardly talked at all for the past thirty minutes, which was all it had taken for them to leave Berruk and Lekauf on the landing pad and travel to the dining room they now sat in and be served their first few courses. "What exactly will you be teaching me?" he asked. While he was very disappointed at not getting to see his father, he was making, in his opinion, a very good effort to not show it. Vader had told him once that he should never show weakness or pain in front of an enemy or someone you didn't trust a hundred percent, as it made you look easy to kill or manipulate. Luke had promised himself to never look weak or easy to manipulate ever again.

The woman smiled slightly, as if she had been asked a question by a child. "I will be instructing you in the ways of the Sith until Lord Vader can finish what he started" she said and Luke swore he almost caught a hint of bitterness. Shrugging it off, Luke continued the meal with the woman, who he was almost sure was staring at him when she thought he wasn't looking.

/

Like it? REVIEW!


	9. Chapter 9: Training Part I

_Dark Order: The New Empire_

_Chapter 9: Training Part I_

Rubbing what little sleep was left in his eyes, Luke Skywalker toweled off his hair before dressing in the customary black clothing he had been waring ever since arriving on Vjun. He then equipped his comlink to his leather belt before he headed out his wooden door and took a side passage to the Upper Dining Hall, where he found his new instructor eating breakfast.

Sitting down, he found his food cold and was momentarily confused as to why Fidelis would go ahead and have his food placed on the table before he had even arrived, since he normally brought it out just as he sat down, and by the looks of it, it had been on the table for over half an hour.

"Wha-" Luke opened his mouth to ask out loud what the meaning of this was, when the red haired women across from him made a snap of her fingers. Immediately a servant came forward and whisked his dish away from him. Standing up, she walked right past a flabbergasted Luke and stopped by the doorway.

"Hurry up" she said in a annoyed tone. "We need to get started, you took far to long" she complained.

"I haven't even eaten!" Luke shot back at her, angry at this mistreatment.

"Lord Vader's power has made you soft because you lack a proper teacher" she said with a slight sarcastic hint to her tone. "That is _why_ I am here" she stated. "Now hurry up! If your hungry, rise earlier and eat fast!" she snapped and Luke was left to chase after her gracefully fast walk towards a hidden elevator that would take them instantly to the sparring ring that Luke had practiced in since his arrival weeks ago.

Ignoring the close quarters he currently was in with this strange women, Luke glared at her. How dare she. "What is your problem?" he demanded, throwing his lessons in etiquette to the wind as he let his furry fly.

The woman smirked. "You have a strong anger for me" she said almost seductively. "That's good. Maybe Vader knew what he was doing after all" she said, a strange look in her eyes.

Luke just glared once more before the lift's metal doors slid smoothly open and Luke walked out into the peaceful garden filled with various flowers, trees and birds. Walking around the small stream and stopping by the waterfall, Luke watched the women enter the ring with him.

Removing her robe, the red haired women, with dull gray eyes with emerald green sprinkled around the center, cracked her fingers as she eyed her opponent. She was garbed in a gray sleeveless shirt and black pants with a metallic belt strapped around them, showing multiple containers and capsules attached on it's length.

Taking in a soft breath, Luke slid into a defensive stance as she did likewise. The two began to circle one another, eying for their strengths, probing for their weaknesses, and planning their attacks.

After a almost peaceful moment that was filled with anticipation, the two ran at the other and clashed with multiple thuds as they wailed against the others body.

Luke's forearm slammed into the woman's chin while his fist slammed into her left hand, which was blocking his attack against her stomach. Meanwhile, the woman's right hand smashed into his left cheek, causing a sickening crunch as her left leg shot up, breaking their locked hands apart near her stomach as she flipped backwards with inhuman agility.

Trying to recover from the pain in his cheek, Luke growled and flew at her with a kick, but she dodged easily by leaning to the side, before smirking and kicking him in the head with a rather fluid flip kick, which sent him to the ground with a thud and a pain filled skull.

Before he could react, she had her right hand around his throat and had him straddled with both legs, effectively pinning him.

Ignoring the heat growing around his legs, Luke tried in vain to break free, but the woman would not let go and her grip was that of an iron vice. After another few minutes of fruitless struggle, Luke sighed in defeat. The red haired women stood up and smiled down at him. "Not that bad, you did get my chin" she said, sounding slightly pleased as she rubbed her chin. "Maybe training you won't be so bad after all" she admitted and turned to head back for the lift.

Luke, astounded that she was simply leaving him here, managed to get to his feet and follow after her, figuring he was supposed to. "Wait" he said as a thought came to him.

"What's your name?" he asked.

The woman smirked softly as the lift opened for them. Stepping inside, she waited for him to be close enough so she would not have to yell. "Lumiya" she said with a sort of exotic, silky like accent. "My name is Lumiya."

/

REVIEW!


	10. Chapter 10: Training Part II

_Dark Order: The New Empire_

_Chapter 10: Training Part II_

Yelling loudly, Luke jerked his controls abruptly to the side as a burst of green energy shot past him, causing his chair to rock violently with the ship as a asteroid exploded where he had just been.

Nearly blacking out from the maneuver, he banked hard once more before flipping around and spinning wildly as he slammed the firing controls down, sending bolt after bolt of pure energy at the enemy fighter behind him.

The other Tie spun to the side and raked his right wing with laser fire, nearly destroying him there as he spun to the left, barely saving his fighter from a fiery doom.

Still moving at near deathly speeds, Luke fired his cannons as he spun, clipping the enemy fighter multiple times in the bare edges of either wing. But they still were not kill shots.

The two fighters, one being Luke's and the other his enemy, spun in and out of the massive asteroid field as they traded fire, all of them missed shots that went wild or destroyed a random asteroid. After a few seconds they were close against the other, nearly scraping metal as they tried to hit the other.

After a few seconds, Luke had the fighter, which was almost as damaged and ruined as his own, in his sights. His oxygen was nearly gone, he was nearly out of power and he was most likely doomed, but he was going to destroy that fighter.

Gripping the gun controls he fired off a long burst that ended with the wonderfully fire filled explosion of the enemy pilot's star fighter. Sighing in relief, Luke gingerly pulled off his black Imperial pilot helmet as WINNER flashed across the screen in front of his simulator's window, which mimicked a Tie's front blast shield.

Popping the hatch, Luke, his black outfit drenched in sweat from the two and a half hour battle, climbed out of the simulator pod and down onto the floor of the training room. Grunting, he walked towards Lumiya as she climbed out of her own fighter simulator, which was just like his. And the other twenty or so pods that lined both walls of the room they currently occupied.

"For a disgusting, rather stupid, rash, ignorant and pampered pet for Vader, you can fly pretty well" was the reply he got as he felt through the force the young woman's anger at him, and the slightly playful smile she was trying to hide. Lumiya had never liked being beaten by him after he had started to really get intoxicated in the Dark Side of the force. And he truly was intoxicated with it.

For nearly a month Lumiya had trained him in his old studies, as well as new ones. He had learned various ways to manipulate and use the thing Vader had called the 'Force' and was now coming along nicely. He had already begun to practice lightsaber techniques with the practice blades Vader had stored in the fortress and Lumiya had, with a bit of effort, admitted he was doing well. Or so she said anyways.

Every day he meditated and every hour of every day he felt the Dark Side fueling his body, submissively at his disposal, eager to do his very will at a single command. He was not a master, but already Lumiya was having trouble keeping him under control.

"You say the nicest things" Luke said sarcastically as he stopped before her, watching as she inspected her bruised arm. The simulator's were designed to make the battle as realistic as possible, meaning a hard spin could throw you out of your chair if you weren't careful. "Want me to kiss it better?" Luke teased as Lumiya glared at him.

"Be careful Skywalker" she snapped. "Or you will wake up with just a small bit _less_ then what you went to bed with.

Luke made a mock look of horror. "Are you saying you wont be there in the morning to wake me up after a good romp?" he joked, then realized too late he had gone to far as the red haired Hand of Vader sprung like a coiled spring at him, crashing into the metal deck with a thud as she wailed on him with her fists. None of the blows really hurt, and were not intended to, but Luke, after trying to blow her out of the sky for the past few hours, was done with fighting for now, so he simply rolled away, causing Lumiya to fall off him as he came to a crouch, waiting for her next attack.

Since both were drained from concentrating so hard to stay alive in the whirlwind of rock during their simulation, neither were willing to go into a full out duel today. Which was why Luke was able to easily find his master, as she had tried, and mostly failed, to get him to call her, right above him, about to kick his shoulder.

Rolling back, Luke swung his left leg in an arc, which hit her side, causing her to crash into the ground once more. Luke immediately made a move for the door, but she was on her feet once again and ran right into him, slamming him against a training pod. "Say it" she demanded, only for Luke to connect their heads with a brutal headbutt, which made her loosen her grip, but not lose it.

Luke, fully intending to yank himself free, was caught completely by surprise when he found himself in a dark, dimly lit room.

_Looking around, he found he was in a sort of study, with books lining the walls and artifacts and weapons were hung or placed in display cases. There was also a soft mist rolling around the edges of the room and his vision seemed to be slightly clouded. The room was made mostly of wood and had a soft, insanely large fire was glowing to one side, while the other side held a large chair which held an equally large being. This being was robed in a dark brown cloak which covered everything but it's forearms and head. The being had dark gray scales with odd symbols planted all over them. It's hands were strong and thick with sharp claws and almost human like fingers. It's eyes were white with a solid gold and yellow center dot and it's mouth was long and looked like the jaw of a Krayt Dragon._

"_The girl" the creature rumbled, it's mouth barely moving. "She is important!" it shouted loudly and then thrust a finger at him. Then the fire became as black as night and the room darkened._

Luke groaned and found Lumiya looking down at him, her entire body practically plastered across his. "Are you okay?" she asked, only a bare hint of concern had edged into her voice. That was when Luke realized he had blacked out. But what about that creature? Had that been a vision or a hallucination? Lumiya had mentioned you could see visions through the force.

"Ground control to Skywalker" Lumiya said. "Anyone there?" she demanded and Luke nodded that he was fine as he stood up.

"I'm fine" he said as Lumiya gave him an odd look. She didn't believe him. However before she could pry, the door to the training room slid open and several techs came in. Nodding to her once more, Luke walked past the startled technicians and headed for his room. He needed to think, and he couldn't do that around her for some reason.

/

Lumiya watched Skywalker leave the room and was quick to leave herself. Her thoughts were jumbled at the moment. She remembered Luke headbutting her, then she saw a misty frame shot of a large and terrifying creature with golden yellow eyes before she was awake and found herself on top of her student in a rather suggestive position. She didn't know why or what exactly had happened to make her black out, but she knew that Luke had seen something and she would find out, and she planned to do it right now.

Keying in the code for the upper levels, Lumiya waited for the lift to reach the correct floor. She would find out what had happened alright.

/

Luke had barely settled into a meditative trance when he heard the knock at his door. Sensing that Lumiya was on the other side and wanted to talk to him, he sighed and rose to his feet. Walking to the door, he hit the console and the door slid to the side. Stepping back, Luke allowed her to enter his room. "Yes Lumiya?" he asked.

Lumiya scowled, even if she wasn't very angry. "You should refer to me as master" she lectured, but Luke payed her no mind. "What happened down there" she asked.

Luke shook his head. "I don't know" he admitted. "It was odd..." he said. "All I know is that I saw an odd creature..." he said. "...He said something, but I didn't understand it" Luke lied as he sat on his bed.

Lumiya nodded as she frowned and sat next to him. "I thought I saw a creature as well" she said, confused. She would have to talk to Lord Vader about this. "Sleep on it" she said at last. "Then meet me for dinner and we'll work on your lightsaber techniques" she ordered before standing up and leaving the room, trying to shove the thoughts that were drifting to the edge of her mind away.

/

"Wrong! Try again!" Lumiya's commanding voice barked out at Luke as he flinched and tried the complicated blocking maneuver. Again.

After their dinner, with only the soft illuminating light of the glow sticks on the walls and the tranquil splashing of the waterfall and pond around them, Luke and Lumiya had entered the sparring ring, as they had done many times. Both carried long steel rods that were coated in millions of microscopic barbs that came from a dangerous and poisonous bug called the Pelko, which Vader had a small living colony stored and kept alive in the Fortress somewhere. The poison acted as a means of making the training realistic. If a person was hit by the blade, then the poison would sink into the limb that had been hit and numb it for hours, effectively making the limb as if it were cut off or badly damaged.

It had taken little time for Lumiya to get into her 'Master-Apprentice' mode and begin yelling at him and making Luke work as hard as he could to perfect the complex and exotic blade maneuvers. When they had first started, Luke had been told of the Seven Forms that existed.

There was Form I, which was Shii-Cho or the Way of the Sarlacc. This was the first one Luke had been instructed in, and to Lumiya's annoyance, had mastered the Form in just two weeks. Then they had moved on to harder designs.

Forms II and III, Makashi the Way of the Ysalamir and Soresu the Way of the Mynock, respectfully, where a bit harder. Form II was solely Lightsaber to Lightsaber and required the quickest and sharpest of minds to master, as well as being a powerful force user.

Form III was for a solid blaster defense. Lumiya had taken a not so private joy in blasting him for hours on end with the toy remote that would fire stun lasers on the lowest setting. The result was a blast that would sting, but not hurt or knock him out, which was endless pain for Luke and endless enjoyment for his master, who had seemingly finally found something he couldn't master within a few weeks. However only a few days ago, he had finally gained a strong understanding and decent use of not just Form II, but also Form III.

Today they were working on Form V. Lumiya had explained that Form IV, Ataru the Way of The Hawk-Bat, was to advanced for him and that Form V would be far Easier for him. Form V, being Djem So the Way of the Krayt Dragon, which was also known as Shien the Perseverance form, in some circles, was an advanced form of Form III. Using quicker moves and responding twice as agile, the user could block and _reflect_ a laser bolt, thus turning a blaster wielding foe's weapon against him.

"You need to sense the bolt, you need to _see_ it" Lumiya stressed. Though it might sound odd, it made perfect sense as to why this would be hard if you could see Luke blindfolded and holding back swears on her family's name and life as he tried to use the force to block the bolts. However Lumiya was sending the bolts twice as fast as when he had practiced Form III and now, when he seemed to be on the verge of concentrating enough to see the bolt coming, she shot him. Oh, and the three remotes that were rotating around him were probably another reason this was so hard for him. "Find the bolt and block!" Lumiya commanded and Luke felt a painful flare on his back as he swung, and missed the droid that had just hit him. Immediately, another four or so rapid fire bolts slammed into the backs of his knees and calfs.

Screaming in rage, Luke through out a fist and suddenly the two remotes became nothing but crumpled metal husks as the sparked, shrieked and then crashed into a natural stone pillar, denting and blackening it with soot and scorch marks. "Stop this!" Luke shouted at her, losing control for a moment. "I'm sick of this!" he complained and took off the blindfold.

Lumiya nodded with obvious fake sympathy. Well, half fake. She enjoyed torturing him with this, to get back for all the teasing, but she knew she had been driving him a bit _too_ hard this time. But he needed to learn anyways. "Yes, blocking a few bolts of low powered energy must just _absolutely_ tax your strength" she agreed sarcastically. "You know what, let's just stop for the day!" she continued. "Heck, let's just stop training you and go and swim until Vader gets here to collect you!" she added. "Then you can expl-"

"Alright!" Luke shouted at her, sick of her charade. "I get it" he said a bit softer. He suddenly looked up and with a ghost of a grin, launched forward, steel blade glinting in the soft glow of the dull light.

Swearing upon every Sith Lord's names up and down, Lumiya scrambled to pull her own blade up, and just in time. Luke's blade clanged into hers with a vibrating thud and like a gong in an ancient sparring match, the two were trading blows and switching from various forms, making the sparring session almost like a test of sorts, but more of a competition.

On one hand, Luke, who was relatively decent at Forms I through III, was by far stronger then Lumiya in terms of the Force and his control over it, but Lumiya, on the other hand, had been trained longer, harder and knew how to control the force better then Luke did at the present moment. It also didn't hurt that she had mastered Form II, which made her nearly unbeatable in Lightsaber combat against Luke, who was still young in the terms of lightsaber training.

Trading blows and glares, the two remained blade locked, then broke out and continued their deadly dance. Even if the Pelko poison on the blades would numb the limb it hit, it was still deadly, for if it hit the neck or heart, it could be...fatal.

Bit by bit, Lumiya continued to force Luke backwards with her assault, which was slowly building moment with each step she and Luke took. Swinging her blade in a arcing motion, Lumiya's blade neatly connected into Luke's own blade. For several seconds the two combatants stood like this, blades locked.

Luke grunted and then the battle continued on. He, however, now pressed forward and Lumiya tried to hold her own ground. But this push was short lived, for already they became locked in a stalemate once more.

"Give up Skywalker!" Lumiya exclaimed. "You'll lose and you know it!" she spat and tried to gain more ground on him, but Luke wouldn't allow it, thus, they continued to stay locked in the center of the sparing ring.

"Not a chance!" Luke snapped back and dropped to a crouch and sprung up, catching her in the jaw before landing and rolling away to safety. Lumiya, not expecting this quick move, was momentarily too shocked to move. By the time she had gotten the first syllable of sith spawn out of her mouth, Luke was sprinting forward, having recovered from his roll.

Growling in anger at both her apprentice and herself, Lumiya slid to the side, trying to neatly dodge the stab that she knew was coming, but to her great surprise, the floor slipped out from under her and the next thing she knew she was falling towards the ground.

Luke, going far to fast to stop, was barely able to react at all to her sudden move. But he couldn't move out of the way in time.

Lumiya's right knee slammed into Luke's left leg, off balancing him as he tried to jump over her. The end result was the two of them laying in a groaning heap on the floor, both wondering what had just happened.

Lumyia blinked and realized Luke's face was close to her own. _Very_ close. Shaking her head mentally to rid herself of those kind of thoughts, Lumiya realized Luke was staring at her, his sky blue eyes staring into her dull gray ones, the emerald color that was mixed into the gray sparkling near the center of her eyes.

Both just stayed there like that for what seemed like hours, their eyes locked. Lumiya vaguely realized she was leading herself down a path that would cause trouble, but she was barely listening to her mind right now. Slowly, so slowly, they found their faces becoming closer. Lumiya found her rosy red lips just inches from the blond haired future sith master. Then it was centimeters. Then it was-

A bright flash of warning hit both of the young adults and in a instant they were on their feet, breathing heavily, blades once again in their hands. A second later and Captain Berruk, with several of his recruits in the night class for hand to hand instruction, came around the corner. Surprise and confusion radiated from Berruk as Lumiya and Luke walked away. Once they were in the lift, Lumiya, who had regained control of herself and was listening to her mind, leaned in close, her lips almost completely inside Luke's ear. "Forget that ever happened" Lumiya whispered, then pulled away. A few moments later and the door slid open and she left Luke in the elevator, all but sprinting down the corridor for her private chambers.

/

REVIEW!REVIEW!REVIEW!


	11. Chapter 11: Vader's Arrival

_Dark Order: The New Empire_

_Chapter 11: Vader's Arrival_

Luke, a month later, watched the shuttle break out of a fiery descent and then make it's way towards the landing bay. Unlike Lumiya's or his very own arrival on planet, Vader would be landing in a main hanger, which had been cleared of extra vessels and was now filled with rows of Vader's staff, soldiers and officers. However, unlike the somewhat standard way of doing the formal greeting, all of the soldiers, officers and staff were in dress uniforms instead of battle armor. The foot soldiers still held their rifles by their side with pride, but all of the members that were at attendance of their lord's arrival were now clad in black tunics and black trousers, both sporting blue stripes running down the sides of the shoulders, arms and legs, respectfully, as well as caps and leather belts with their com units, blasters and other devices stored inside. The 501st patch stood out as well as their rank. The only real difference was the slight color changes for those ranks. Some had red stripes, while others had gold stripes and so on, but all of the uniformed men had blue stripes on the outside of whatever color they were wearing on their uniform's sides.

Between the two rows of uniformed personal was a small space for one to three people to walk through. At one end was Luke, Lumiya, Captain Berruk, Lieutenant Lekauf and the other top personal of the Fortress, as well as several important and prominent leaders of the natives of Vjun. At the other end was the shuttle that bore Vader. The shuttle that had V-1 painted on the side in red and silver.

The hydraulics in the landing gear could be seen working as the landing gear's treads hit the stone deck of the hanger floor. The shuttle rocked for a short second and then it stayed still as a soft hissing was heard. The ramp then slowly lowered itself down towards the floor.

"Detail!" Commander Jork, the leader of the Five Hundred and First that were on planet shouted out and roughly two hundred rifles were gripped by the uniformed infantrymen as the officers and staff waited. Commander Jork, his dark skinned face covered in battle scars and fixed with a mechanical eye, head bracket, as well as a mechanical arm, watched closely. When the first sight of Vader's black boots appeared, he shouted. "Present arms!"

Immediately the rifleman brought their guns up in front of them, both of their hands on the rifle as they kept it level and unmoving. Behind them, the officers and staff of the Fortress brought up their hands in the standard Imperial form of a military salute.

Luke watched as Lord Vader, Sith Lord and infamous enforcer for the Empire, stalked down his shuttle ramp and headed towards Luke and Lumiya, as well as the entourage around them. His pace was brisk and he stopped before them within a few moments of stepping on the floor. The command staff, Fidelis, Solis, Luke and Lumiya all fell to one knee upon his approach. Well, Fidelis and Solis stood there, but they bowed low. Their own way showing respect.

Vader seemed to study both Luke and Lumiya for a short moment in time, then, as if he had blinked, he spoke to them. "Rise." He then walked past them and entered his Fortress, his subjects and Son quick to follow.

"Milord" Commander Jork said. "If you will please allow me to take you to the main parade grounds, we have prepared a presentation for you" he said with complete submission and the barest hint of eagerness, as if he knew a great surprise was waiting and could barely keep it a secret.

Vader nodded and allowed the man to walk past him. He then fell next to Lumiya and talked softly with her, Luke, close enough to hear, was able to figure out they were discussing him.

Whatever they had to say, however, was cut short. Before Luke could try and listen in to discover the exact nature of their opinion of him, the small entourage passed under a metal arch and found themselves on a balcony outside that was large enough for the important Imperial officials to all fit into. Several servants stood nearby, dressed in the freshly pressed uniforms of Vader's personal staff, ready to bring drinks, food or whatever else the group might require.

Moving to the edge with Lumiya and Vader, Luke watched as Commander Jork spoke into a small com unit softly before closing it. Before them, Luke saw a large stone drill field, which stretched for what seemed like miles, but was most likely shorter. But what caught his attention was the practically endless lines of blue uniformed youths, which stretched across the drill field's sides and expanded forward and backwards. Luke guessed there was at least a thousand of the young boys, maybe a bit more, give or take.

The ranks of boys were all clad in dull blue uniforms with ribbons and ranks displayed on them. The uniform consisted of a dull blue tunic and pair of trousers, black boots that shined in the harsh, hot sunlight of the mid morning, black gloves and a matching black utility belt that looked like the same kind the stormtroopers on base wore. The entire group of boys, no older then seventeen or so, had short, neatly cut, hair and had about them an air of determination, pride, discipline and a slight grimness.

In the entire time he had been on the planet, Luke had never seen them before. He had heard about the Sub-Adult Group and it's expansive group of members, but he had not thought Vader would have an entire army of them on planet. For they certainly were from Vjun.

Luke had noticed, the few times he had been allowed to enter the Vjunian city, that the Vjunians all had a nearly paper white skin with bright eyes of varying color and brightly colored hair. Lumiya had explained they were humans, but that they had been on the planet for so long, which had a slight radiated atmosphere and such bright sunlight, that their skin and other features had become a brighter shade then average humans.

"In honor of Lord Vader's visit" Commander Jork said over the com he had pulled out, his slightly scratchy voice echoing across the entire field as well as the balcony. "The 432nd Sub-Adult Group Imperial Elite Stormtrooper Battalion is pleased to demonstrate it's fighting spirit and willingness to serve, as well as it's discipline and military skill" Command Jork said with pride.

A second later, most likely after a signal was given, the entire formation moved. Luke hadn't noticed, but all of the youths had a rifle in their hands, each nearly as long as the rifle's owner. The youths propped them up on their shoulders and began moving in a giant line, almost like a huge living snake or centipede.

Then, again with no real warning or indication, they began moving the guns. Spinning them, stabbing them, twirling them and tossing them in the air. All in sync with every single member of the massive battalion. Luke, with his force abilities, could sense they were doing this with effort, but little thought. They had practiced for years on these maneuvers and could do the drills easily, but with Lord Vader watching, everything to them was ten times harder.

Needlessly to say, when they had finished moving about the field in complex, often random, moves and doing crazy things with their guns, Luke was very impressed. He had never before known how disciplined the Imperial Forces were.

Clapping with the rest of the Imperial Elite surrounding him, Luke could hear the clapping and applauds echo over the speakers as another command was issued below them and the entire battalion spun around, shouted something, which Luke, straining his senses, could make out to be "Long Live the Empire!" before heading towards the direction of the exits, still keeping themselves calm and collected and in neat lines, their steps were even in sync.

"Most impressive" Vader rumbled beside Luke. The powerful Sith was overlooking the young men leave, and Luke could feel genuine praise in the comment to the Commander.

Beaming with pride, though taking care to not show it, Commander Jork nodded and, understanding the slight gesture Vader made with his hand, ushered the rest of the Imperial Officials out of the balcony with Captain Berruk's help.

Vader, Lumiya and Luke waited for a few moments before exiting the now deserted parade grounds and walked down a few hallways before entering a secret passage hidden behind a large holo map of the Fortress, one of many set up around the base to prevent personal from getting lost. They walked down several spiral stairs and walked out of and into tunnels, exiting every now and again and walking across stone bridges outside, far below, on the very side of the main pillar of the Imperial base above, before entering the tunnels again.

At last, the trio stepped out from behind a large rock and came into a exotic garden with a waterfall and pool surrounding a stone ring. The dueling ring.

"Lumiya tells me that you have come along well in your studies and skills and are ready for more advanced training" Vader rumbled as he stopped walking.

Luke, now remembering that Vader had once upon a time told him that his father could be alive, somewhere out in the galaxy, and that he would look for him if Luke would agree to train with Vader. Had he found his father? At long last?

"You are eager to find your father" Vader said, more as a statement then a question. "But first" he began slowly. "You must prove you are strong enough" Vader finished and unclipped his lightsaber from his belt.

Luke looked confused, only for Vader to toss the blade to him. Now Luke was even more confused. Was he supposed to attack Vader? Demonstrate his powers?

His question was answered the second Lumiya activated her blood red blade and stepped into the arena, eyes determined. "Ready Skywalker?" She demanded, her eyes saying he had better treat her like the master around Vader.

"Yes...master" Luke said and entered the ring, worried as he drew his blade. Could he kill Lumiya? Would he kill Lumiya? Luke barely had time to think on this, much less activate his lightsaber before Lumiya was flying at him, swinging her blade towards his head.

/

!


	12. Chapter 12: Final Duel

_Dark Order: The New Empire_

_Chapter 12: The Final Duel_

**DISCLAIMER: Hopefully you realize that everything I made up or created BELONGS to ME and NOT Lucas Films or it's partners. The things THEY do OWN however BELONG to THEM. If you try to steal my work, then I will hunt you down, sue you for everything you own and send you packing to some hole in the ground where you will work for the rest of your life to PAY ME BACK for that little trick of misery. READ ON!**

Their blades collided as their bodies moved in a sort of sync. Clash, stab, lunge, duck. The movements became subconscious as they parried and paraded around the ring, trying to disarm the other. Luke was still less experienced, but his force potential was greater then Lumiya's, somewhat equaling the scales as the two continued their duel.

Off to the side, Lord Vader observed the fight. His son had come far. Without realizing it, he had embraced the ways of the dark side and was now using it without fear or worry. He would be a true, strong Sith Lord.

Luke, meanwhile, was concentrating to fight Lumiya as best as he could. True, he had gained more fighting experience in lightsaber combat, but Lumiya had more. He was relying solidly on his ability to match her with sheer power in the force.

Sensing the fake, Luke snapped back into reality as he threw himself to the left as Lumiya swung from the right, nearly clipping his shoulder with the fully active and deadly blade. Luke stood up and growled softly, the Dark Side starting to gain control over him.

Letting out a roar he made a curved arc like attack at Lumiya, which was deflected. He continued at her, twisting the blade, slinging it and clashing it into her own blade. The two were quickly beginning to sweat as the humid air of the planet's early afternoon began to take it's toll.

Luke continued to try and break Lumiya's defenses, but she continued to use her best form, which was Form II. Luke, best using Form III, as his incredibly strong force powers allowed him to see more things at one time then most, allowing him to block more attacks. This had also been his most annoying Form to master, however he had strove on and proven to be able to make his strongest one, much to Lumiya's annoyance.

Driving on, Luke found himself being forced back, instead of pushing against her own defenses. Form III would not hold out against Form II. Actually, Form III would _never_ help against Form II, it was the exact opposite form of defense.

Deciding he needed to rethink his strategy, Luke switched to Form VI, which was arguably his second worst style of fighting, second because he had yet to try Form VII. Using the form, he became a blur. He was all over her defenses, everywhere at once, flying, spinning and rolling. He was no master of the form, but he was on a role today, as he managed to push Lumiya back a bit, until she used the force to jump back to the near edge of the stone ring, which Luke took as a sign of retreat and distress. That was his mistake.

Luke sprung forward, bringing his blade forward for a deadly chop at her lightsaber. Only, when it was too late to matter, then did he realize his mistake. Her footing was no longer in the semi relaxed/strict stance of Form II, but of the calm, peaceful, misleading stance of Form VII, the Way of the Vornsk, or the "Ferocity Form."

Trying in vain to stop his fatal jump, he felt Lumiya throw a fist that connected with his jaw, which left a loud enough crack in the air for Luke to realize he could touch his jaw bone with his tounge.

Laying on his back, one hand cradling his jaw while the other tried to swipe at her in a sad attempt to ward her off, Luke watched as she swung her blade and knocked his pain numbed hand aside, the blades connecting so hard that his own blade sailed off into the air, out of the ring. The match was hers.

"Skywalker, you disgrace the name of the Sith" Lumiya spat at him. "To ruin all of the training I gave you, all for _nothing_" she hissed at him, loud enough for all to hear, but low enough to leave the hurt he should not feel. The hurt that meant one thing. That he had developed a friendship with her, and that he knew was not allowed. He dared not think of what else he might have subconsciously developed with his master. Actually, it was former master now.

Off to the side, he could see Vader walking away, heading for the lift. His project had failed him, so he was leaving no doubt. Luke felt fear in him. His father could be alive, looking for him even. He couldn't lose! Struggling, Luke tried to get at Lumiya with his bare fists, only for a painful explosion to lace all his chest, arms and legs as Lumiya pinned him by slamming her boot into his chest, causing a crunching noise. "You have failed" she said simply. "You are a _failure_" she said and prepared to finish him.

Luke groaned, his right arm holding his jaw, which was slightly bloody now, his left hand broken from her disabling move against his blade, his legs of no use right now and his chest being held down by her foot. He was done.

Luke was just about to accept his defeat, to slip into the unconscious that he knew would soon be followed by death in a few seconds, when the voice from his dreams, from his visions, if they really _were_ visions, burst out at him.

"**YOU ARE SITH! YOU ARE DESTINED! DO NOT BREAK! DO NOT LOSE!"**

Luke felt it then. The surge, the adrenaline. The return of power. Letting out an inhuman roar, which seemed to be mixed with the voice from a few seconds ago, Luke shot forward, somehow throwing Lumiya's leg aside, throwing her off balance.

Not wasting a second, Luke used his right hand, which left his jaw to bleed and throb in pain, to grab Lumiya's blade. So shocked was she, Lumiya couldn't even stop him from grabbing and removing her blade from her hand, something a powerful user of Form II never let happen.

Glaring at Lumiya, who he had managed to force onto her knees, Luke held the blade before her neck. To the side, he could see that Vader had returned and was watching intently. "Now...I win" he spoke, his voice now normal, no longer with the slight mix of creature and human.

Lumiya stared at him in shock. For the brief second Luke had been able to overpower her, he had flowed with the largest amount of Dark Side energy she had ever seen. He should have been beaten, instead he was fresh! Realizing it was the will of the Dark Side that he win, Lumiya bowed her head, and accepted defeat.

Vader clapped softly. "Well done boy" he said. "Well done."

Vader was trying very hard right now to hide his shock and pride. The force itself had agreed that he was to be his heir, for he had felt the Dark Side flow into his son, stopping him from defeat, allowing him to triumph when even Vader doubted he could. "Lieutenant" Vader said.

Immediately Lekauf came out of the shadows, hiding his recording rod in his pocket. No need for Luke to realize Vader was keeping records of his fighting abilities. Not until he knew the truth anyways...

"Yes milord" he asked.

"Ready the shuttle" Vader ordered, then turned to the panting Luke. The boy was weak, tired, the force having now removed itself from him. "Go with him Skywalker" Vader said, fighting off the memories that came with the name. The boy, who would need medical treatment soon for his jaw, nodded and stumbled off, before being assisted by Lekauf to the elevator. "Take him to medical first" Vader demanded, then turned to Lumiya, who was still on her knees, head bowed. She expected death. He knew she deserved it.

Once he was sure Luke was gone, now far above in the Fortress medical wing, Vader entered the ring. He circled Lumiya slowly, waiting for her to respond. Once it was clear she would not make the first move, did he speak. "You broke the rules" he said. Lumiya did not respond. "You know the orders I gave all of you when you swore to serve me" Vader hissed, bordering on snarling.

"I..." Lumiya tried to speak, but failed and simply became silent once again.

Vader stopped before her. She looked up. Her beautiful red hair was dirty and ruined and her gray eyes with the green sparks were wet with tears. She was not scared, only horribly sad, horribly broken. All because she had failed the man she honestly swore to serve, because she saw him, not as a father, but as a friend, as the person who had saved her from death, from that one night...

"You know you are not to love! Not to feel that emotion! Not for him!" Vader shouted, his snarl now easily heard by her. "I told you the price you would pay!" he screamed, his speech box barely able to continue to work as Lumiya began to silently weep. This was killing her emotionally.

Vader hissed once more as he drew his lightsaber to him with the force, causing it to fly from the shadows. "You...have failed" Vader said, his voice ominous and finale, as if a door had been shut as he mimicked the words Lumiya had spoken not more then a few minutes ago.

Lumiya braced herself, waiting for the blow. There was a soft click. A hiss, then blackness.

/

Vader watched as Luke boarded Vader's personal shuttle, the smaller party of imperial officers watching in farewell. Their leader yet again leaving them to serve the Empire's needs and orders.

The boy's jaw was covered in white bandages and med patches, as was his chest. He was outfitted in a new uniform though, which was a black uniform like the ones Vader's troops wore, which even had the 501st patch and a rank bar, which showed Commander on it. He also had the detail pin on the uniform, which showed him as Vader's personal guard.

Lekauf and the rest of Vader's small personal guard, which was composed of twelve, however only half were with Vader at the moment, Imperial troopers from the 501st. Among their number was the recently added Slick, entered the shuttle as well and sealed the hatch before some went to the mess hall, while some others went to the bunk room and Lekauf went to the cockpit to check on the pilots.

"You asked about your father" Vader said and watched as Luke perked up, his attention solely on Vader now. "You wish to find him?" he questioned and Luke nodded quickly up and down. "You have bested your master...you have passed my test" Vader continued. "So I will now inform you that I have found him" Vader said and was nearly blown back by the sudden burst of surprise, shock and happiness coming from the boy before him.

"Where is he?" Luke asked, trying as hard as he could to keep himself from demanding to know where his father was.

Vader felt the shuttle begin to hum as it prepared to take off. "He is here" Vader said. "On this shuttle" he saw the confusion and eagerness in the boys eyes. "In this compartment" he finished and saw all emotion, all purpose, all thoughts themselves, vanish from his son's eyes as he realized what the Sith Lord meant. "I will be in my quarters if you wish to talk...my _son_" Vader said, reinforcing and concreting what he meant inside his son's mind. With that, he turned and went to his quarters as the shuttle rose off the ground and roared into the air, breaking into orbit minutes later. From the second the shuttle took off, to the second it took to jump to hyperspace, Luke did nothing but think in a shock numbed thought process as he decided on what he felt about this new predicament.

As he automatically headed for his...his _father's_ quarters, Luke realized what he felt. He felt fear. He felt power. He felt anger and confusion. But what he felt most of all...he felt joy. And he realized...despite what Vader had done. Despite who he was... he liked it. He liked the idea of a Father. And now he had one. The only question that remained was...what now?

End of Section I: The Beginning

/

REVIEW! REVIEW! IF YOU DON'T REVIEEW! THEN I WILL NEVER UPDATE THE NEXT CHAPTER! I WILL NOT FINISH UNLESS YOU !

(This is not the end, there is MORE!) (NO IT WILL NOT BE IN ANOTHER FIC. THIS FIC IS NOT DONE!)

!

Thanks for reading, see you all in February!

I AM LOSTSWORD AND I WILL C U NEXT TIME!


	13. Chapter 13: Acceptance

_Dark Order: The New Empire_

_Chapter 13: Acceptance_

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN STARWARS**

Section II: The Apprentice

The double doors slid open wordlessly as Luke entered Vader's private chambers. The room was dark and all but empty, however the Dark Lord was standing in the center of the room, appearing to have been waiting for his son to come talk to him for some time. He probably had.

"F...Father" Luke said, rolling the word off his tongue as he felt both a bit of...revulsion? Distaste? Something...he felt something when he said that. But he also felt immense joy knowing he had someone to call father. Someone who was _really_ his father, not a made up lie that someone he had trusted had told him.

"Yes my son?" Vader answered, curious as to what his son had to say and realized the boy was just as unnerved and unsure about being his son as Vader was. Neither hated the other, it was simply just surprising and something neither were used to.

"I...I was wondering...um...what now?" Luke asked. He wasn't sure if the training had simply been a ploy to keep him interested in staying with Vader, er, his father or if it was genuine. And he still had no idea what was to happen to him.

Vader, hiding his surprise, answered smoothly. "You will continue your training of course. I do not plan to simply drop your training because you are my son. No, I am already proud at how far you have come in so short a time" Vader complemented. "In fact, you might soon be able to create your own blade" Vader added, seeing the light dance in his son's eyes.

"T-Thank you M..." Luke started to say, glad that he would be granted his own weapon, but stopped as he struggled to figure out what he should call his new father.

"You may call me Master if that is what you wish, but I will accept...Father as well" Vader said, feeling a bit of joy at the fact that he could be called father, when only a few months ago he would have thought himself to be alone in the rather large galaxy.

"Of course...Father" Luke said. "What...what about in...public?" Luke said, wondering if his father might be ashamed about him, a former peasant, being the son of one of the most powerful men in the Empire.

"It would serve our interests best if we kept our relation secret. So you should refer to me as Lord Vader while interacting with anyone outside of myself or Lieutenant Lekauf" Vader informed him.

Luke looked surprised. "He knew?" he asked, wondering how he had never realized the man had known about him being Vader's son.

"Of course, I sent him along to make sure you were kept safe, so I allowed him to know. He is very loyal and the secret is therefore safe with him" Vader said. He was about to say something else when he heard his com beep in the special pattern to indicate a call from the Imperial Palace. "Quickly, hide yourself!" Vader snapped and Luke, understanding the order, vanished into the shadows of Vader's chambers.

A second later and Vader flipped a switch with the force as he bowed. A full sized image of Emperor Palpatine, galactic ruler of the Empire, appeared before Vader. "My Master, what is thy bidding?" Vader asked as he stared at the floor.

"Rise" Palpatine said in their traditional greeting. "My friend, you have been gone for quite some time. Several days now. With you gone, I was short of an enforcer and thus Mon Calamari has successfully revolted..." The Emperor's voice was soft and calm, but Vader could tell the anger brewing inside it. The man was mad, very mad. And he, as usual, saw Vader the one responsible. "Go to Mon Calamari and destroy the resistance there, capture their leaders and make them suffer. Unleash your hatred upon them" Palpatine ordered before stopping. "Who is there?" he sneered. "I sense another form...some other signature...what are you hiding?" He demanded as he peered closer towards the projector, as if he was looking into the room itself.

A mere moment later and, to Vader's immense relief, Lekauf entered Vader's chambers and stopped seeing Palpatine. Nearly freezing from shock, Lekauf saluted. "I-I am sorry my lord, my Emperor. I was simply delivering a document concerning Mon C-"

Palpatine's eyes seemed to stop glaring and he seemed to realize he had made a mistake. "Ah, simply your Adjunct. You get new ones so often I never seem to recognize their signatures..." he paused, eying Vader's mask. The entire room was deathly silent as Luke held his breath, scared for his life. Then the connection died and the tension vanished.

Vader sighed and took the document from Lekauf before letting him leave, knowing the man probably had a few dozen frayed nerves now. He had only ever had a few Adjuncts and Palpatine knew Lekauf had been serving him for years now. He wouldn't make a mistake like forgetting Lekauf like that...he knew Vader was hiding something.

Cursing the Force in general and his own foolishness for not making sure Luke could hide himself well enough in the force, Vader turned to his frightened son, who was still remembering Palpatine's deathly stare.

/

/

"You summoned me master?"

"Yes" Palpatine said to the kneeling form of his Hand as he sat on his throne inside the large room that was the Throne Room, a pale light filtering from the window behind him so that it gave the smallest of lighting to see in the dark room. "I sense Lord Vader is plotting to overthrow me" He stated. "You are to sneak aboard his Destroyer and find out what he is up to" Palpatine ordered.

"It shall be done"

**REVIEW! REVIEW DANG YOU!**


	14. Chapter 14: The Mon Calamari Campaign

_Dark Order: The New Empire_

_Chapter 14: The Mon Calamari Campaign_

**A/N: Mon Calamari will be changed a bit from the Expanded Universe's version to fit the story line I have set...just a heads up. Also, im going to kind of take a break from Luke and Vader for a bit and focus on a new character and side plot. Don't think that the entire fic will no longer sport Luke, just this chapter.**

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Star Wars**

"Colonel"

"Lord Vader" Colonel Maximilian Veers said as he stopped before the Sith Lord, ready to give his report. "All assault companies are prepping for landing, all of the support craft are also prepping and our Tie's have been scrambled for escort and pre-landing bombardment duties" Veers reported as Vader nodded to the Battalion Commanding Officer.

"Good, have the artillery and ammunition shuttles land right after our ground troops have secured several landing zones" Vader ordered as Veers made a note in his datapad.

"Of course milord, it shall be done" Veers said and turned to leave. He payed no mind to the young blond haired man standing off the side, clothed in a black robe, watching him. It didn't pay to be overly curious when in the employ of Lord Vader...

/

/

"Alright K company, wake up and load up!" Gunnery Sergeant Tso'co shouted as he stormed into the barracks of K/101/9 or K company, 101st battalion, 9th Stormtrooper Division. The gunny was suited up in full Stormtrooper armor, with his helmet held in one hand, his E-11 blaster rifle strapped to his back as he used his free hand to use a sonic whistle to awaken all of the sleeping troops in the barracks.

Jo'k Forra groaned and rolled out of his cot with a thud. Picking himself up, Jo'k, a 'Freshie' right out of the Stormtrooper basic on Cardia, began to slide into his armor. After checking that all of the pristine white armor was on, Jo'k grabbed his SE-14r light repeating blaster from it's slot in his bunk and his battle pack before running after his comrades, sealing his helmet on as he went.

"Alright boys!" Raĕa Falia, his platoon leader, shouted as Jo'k and the rest of 3rd platoon boarded their shuttle. "This is it! We finally get to deal with those _jedi_ loving rat scum face to face!" she said, spitting the word Jedi like it was a disease. "I want the E-Webs set up once we land. Put them in good positions and be ready for a rebel counter attack! Mortars, you set up as far from the main line as possible, In good cover if you can manage" Lieutenant Falia barked as the shuttle rocked and bucked and shook from pre-landing anti shuttle fire from rebel laser batteries. "Your Imperial Stormtroopers, you will not break! You will not flee! You will fight! You will _kill!_" she shouted.

Whether it was sheer luck or excellent timing, the shuttle ramp lowered as her speech ended. With a mighty roar, the stormtroopers ran forward, down the ramp and onto Mon Calamari coral rock.

Jo'k Forra ran with his E-Web squad, now carrying the heavy metal stand for the large turret with him. He found his gunmate, Jarkas Rraan, holding the E-Web up as he watched rebel gun positions open up on the imperial stormtroopers.

Setting the stand down, Jo'k and Jarkas quickly set the gun up, locked it in place and had the already heated power generator up and running in the space of six minutes flat. "Loaded!" Jo'k shouted, rehearsing his lines from basic for the first time in an actual combat mission. "Clear to fire!" he said and Jarkas didn't disappoint.

There is little that can make a living being's skin crawl more then an Imperial E-Web going full throttle, spitting out pure energy at incredible speeds. And the sound of the retort of the gun: _wap-wap-wap-wap-wap-wap-wap_ could make many a soldier cringe in fear of charging such a gun.

As he monitored the power core of the gun, Jo'k observed their surroundings with half an eye. They were in what appeared to be the coral hills outside of one of the Mon Calamarian cities. The ground was dark black and chippy and was quickly being coated in blood as stormtroopers and rebels fell left and right. Stormtroopers were rushing up towards the larger slopes near the horizon; and the rebels sitting up in their foxholes were unleashing various types of weapons down on K company and it's sister companies as they moved forward.

As the battle raged, Jo'k could hear the sound of the Imperial concussion grenade mortars opening up on the rebels farther back from the lines. The grenades were arching right over the Imperial lines and landing in the middle of the scattered rebel defenders, blowing body parts and coral rock all over the determined human and alien troops.

"Keep up the fire!" Lieutenant Falia snapped over the com before she directed her platoon's mortar section to direct it's fire to a certain section of the enemy lines that were being a real sith spawn to eliminate.

"Take this you freak bags!" Jarkas shouted in glee as he unloaded his gun's energy charge on the rebel lines. Most of his rounds were missing due to the heavy rebel cover, but it was sure as heck keeping the rebels behind their cover instead of shooting at their Imperial enemies. "Die! You hear me? Die!" he howled and let off another burst.

Eventually the infantry platoons began to move out of their line of sight and Lieutenant Falia ordered all support weapons to be broken down and all troops prepare to move out.

/

/

"Your leaving yourself open every time you try to do any movement that even relates itself to Form IV" Vader stated plainly as he knocked Luke out of the air with a casual sweep of his training saber. His son crashed into the floor with a soft thud, having slowed himself with the force before he impacted the ground. The two were currently aboard the _Devastator_ where Vader was polishing Luke's skills in the art of lightsaber combat. Before the two could continue their mock battle, Colonel Veer's beeped Vader's com. Answering it, after making sure Luke was out of sight, Vader was presented with an image of the Colonel, who was in his green-gray battle armor which had a slightly dirt sprinkled color added to it.

"Sir" Veer's said, his voice slightly scratchy and covered in a thin layer of static as he talked to the dark lord from his command tent on the surface. "The battalion is still spread around the outskirts of southern Coral City. We estimate the time to entering the city will be another day or so due to heavy Rebel defenses set up on the thick coral ridges all around the island" Veers reported.

Vader nodded to himself. "Very well Major, continue with your assault" Vader said and then shut the com off and placed it on his belt. "Now, let's try this again" Vader said to Luke and the two lunged at each other once again.

/

/

"Incoming!" Someone shouted just before an artillery shell slammed into the coral rock to Jo'k's left. Bits and pieces of coral flew everywhere as fire and smoke flew in all directions.

Ducking reflexively, Jo'k was quick to return to his monitoring of the power core as Jarkas fired away with the E-Web. The gun had been firing for nearly two hours now after they had been ordered to this position by Lieutenant Falia and the gun was only supposed to fire for an hour solid max or else it might overheat and explode.

"Mortars, I want that MPTL destroyed _NOW_!" Lieutenant Falia barked over the com as the heavy artillery piece opened up again from it's hidden position somewhere on the battlefield. The rebels had modified the MPTL's recently and now the smoke that came from the proton torpedoes when they were fired were all but completely masked, meaning that it was practically impossible to spot the artillery guns. A few seconds later and numerous explosions rocked K companies lines as more shrapnel flew everywhere.

"Son of a Sith!" Jarkas screamed as he and Jo'k dove for cover, the pieces of coral pinging off the heavily reinforced E-Web's armor pieces, giving them some cover as they tired to hug the curve of the crater they had deployed their turret in.

"Mortar!" Lieutenant Falia screamed in rage as another wave of rounds smacked into the lines, sending troopers all over the place, staining their white armor red as they hit the ground. "Take that bloody MPTL out! Right now! Right now dang it!" she snapped as the sound of the CGM's went off and Imperial grenades detonated off along the rebel lines.

The fighting was still going on and in full swing. The rebels still held the ridges closest to the city and were firing down at the Imperials as they paid for every inch in stormtrooper blood. So far the rebels had held strong, but eventually they would be backed into Coral City and the playing field would be a bit fairer...

As Jo'k and Jarkas returned to their gun duties, a flight of seven Tie Bombers flew overhead, dropping numerous glowing proton bombs along the rebel lines. Mixing with this was Imperial CGM (Concussion Grenade Mortar) and the more heavy SPMA-T fire. The mixing of proton bombs, concussion grenades and turbolaser rounds shook the entire area as the imperials bombarded the force out of the rebel's ragged lines.

"Oh yeah!" A trooper shouted nearby. "Take that you scum!" he added for good measure as he and his mortar buddies stopped their firing for a moment to admire the huge explosions covering the ridges that their comrades were trying so hard to take from the rebel hands.

"Mortars hang back, heavy and special weapons move up with the advance forces" Lieutenant Falia said, making no effort to conceal the glee she felt as the ground stopped shaking. If any rebels had survived that, they were deep in the rock and unlikely to come out for a bit.

"Jo'k cool this thing down would ya?" Jarkas said as he refrained from unhooking the E-Web from it's stand, due to the massive heat it was putting off from having fired for so long.

"Sure" Jo'k said and began to manipulate the controls to bring the temperature down on the gun barrel and energy core. Normally this would be dangerous while the gun was firing but at the moment it was safe, as the gun was currently out of use.

"Alright, now let's go catch up with the rest of the platoon" Jarkas said as soon as they were able to begin taking the gun apart. Jo'k only grunted in agreement.

/

/

Rain.

It had started last night after K company had stopped with the rest of the battalion for the night and had entrenched itself as best as they could in the coral ridges that they had somehow managed to claim earlier that day. A bit beyond them was the glowing lights of Coral City, a shield covering it's perimeter to prevent imperial bombardment.

Mon Calamari was around ninety seven percent water, with a few small scattered islands here and there. And because of it being a largely water covered world, it had horrible rain storms. Tsunamis raged on the coasts of the island and the rain hammered the men and women of K company like an uninvited guest that would not leave.

Those in the fox holes were the worst off and had to make due however they could. The ones in the tents, mainly officers or the top ranking enlisted soldiers, had it the best. However Jo'k and Jarkas were not high ranking enlisted, nor officers. So they were trying to keep as dry as they could in their armor as the rain howled all around them.

Stormtrooper armor was capable of going into zero-g environments and allow their owners to survive theoretically, however in practice, unless the suit was air tight and given the proper upgrades, they would hold out only so long. It was the same case with the endless rain.

"Kriff!" Jo'k muttered as he gave up trying to push water out of his shared foxhole with an empty metal box that had held ammo for the E-11's of the stormtroopers in the assault companies. Sloshing into the water as he sat down in the wet crater that was their fox hole, Jo'k glanced at the E-Web. The gun was powered down, but heated up enough so that they could have it running in three or so minutes if the rebels made an attack. But it wasn't likely that the rebels would attack with this rain. Not when they were safe and warm inside their city and it's protective shield.

"Get used to it kid" Jarkas said as he took a puff from his glitterstim stick. How he managed to keep it alight, with his helmet off and the rain pelting them like it was, Jo'k would never know. "Mon Calamari will be like this for days. Our best bet is to get into the city. It's dry in there..." Jarkas said with a slight wistfulness, as if they could simply just walk into the city and escape the rain, paying no mind to the hordes of rebel trash infesting the place.

"Whatever you say" Jo'k said before closing his eyes. The rain continued to pour and sleep seemed evasive, but after two or so hours, Jo'k found himself falling into a restless sleep.

That's when the rebel's MPTL's opened up.

Groaning in anger at having been yanked away from sleep when it was so close, Jo'k forced himself to become alert as he and Jarkas scrambled into the deepest part of their crater as rebel rockets slammed into their ridge. Seconds later and Y-wings and X-wings flew overhead, strafing their lines. Now Jo'k knew what the rebels had gone through earlier that day.

"Enemies moving up the ridge!" someone shouted over the com. Sure enough, when Jo'k looked up from his foxhole, he saw hordes of rebels in their dark uniforms running forward. A mixture of humans, Mon Calamarians and other species all armed with all kinds of weapons.

"E-Web's open up!" Lieutenant Falia shouted as she emerged from her foxhole, E-11 held up as she barked orders out to the platoon. Normally it would be odd for an officer to sleep in a foxhole instead of a tent, but in this case it saved Third platoon's lives while the other lieutenants were busy getting dressed in their armor.

"Come on Jo'k!" Jarkas snapped as he tossed his spice stick out into the rain before pulling his helmet on. The two stormtroopers then quickly got to work powering up the E-Web. However it would take at least another two minutes and the rebels were all but upon them.

"No time!" Jo'k shouted and reached down into the foxhole and pulled up his E-11 carbine. Snapping the gun butt up to his shoulder, Jo'k took aim and began to systematically open fire on the rebels, missing some and hitting others. While he did this, Jarkas chucked fragmentation grenades out at the advancing rebels. Along third platoon's line, the rest of their comrades were mimicking them.

True they didn't put up the best defense ever seen, but the rebel had expected to surprise the enemy, not meet semi-alert resistance. And once the E-Webs and mortars were up and running, with the assault platoons moving towards the rebel force...the rebel assault broke and withdrew, leaving countless dead rebels and a few wounded or killed imperial soldiers.

What a night, Jo'k thought as he sat down on the edge of his foxhole, working on keeping the E-Web from overheating. Though in this rain his job was all but meaningless. They could fire the darn gun all _week_ and it wouldn't overheat.

"Okay, good work people" Lieutenant Falia said as she walked down the line. "Keep alert, they might come back, keep the guns hot and your guns charged" she said and stopped before Jo'k and Jarkas' foxhole. "Forra, Rraan!" she snapped and the two turned to look at her soaking wet armored figure in the raging storm, expecting some sort of reprimand. "Good thinking you two, you saved the whole kriffing line by going for your guns like that instead of charging the E-Web. I'm putting the two of you in for promotion" she said, a small hint of approval and praise in her voice. "Now get back to your job" she snapped and stalked off to go and thank the rest of her platoon for their defense of their part of the line.

Jo'k felt his jaw drop open as her words registered in his head. Turning to Jarkas, he grinned under his helmet, not caring that no one could see it, and let out a cheer of victory with his gunmate.

Sure they were still mere enlisted troops and were likely to die in the coming days, but they had promotions awaiting both of them in the very near future, so things all in all could be worse.

/

/

"Alright, everyone up!" Lieutenant Falia snapped, pulling Jo'k out of the small etching of sleep he had been able to acquire since the attack the night before. Groaning, the private managed to pull himself out of his foxhole and got his carbine around his shoulders before helping Jarkas break down the E-Web.

"Any idea how far we're going today?" Jo'k asked as they began to form up with the rest of the platoon and then the rest of the company as they prepared to start marching.

"No idea buddy" Jarkas muttered as they heard the captain start speaking.

"Companee!" He screamed, a bit useless since they had coms in their helmets. "Forward, Harce!" He barked and the trooper began to move at a steady, slow pace down the ridges and towards the enemy city in the distance.

/

/


	15. Chapter 15: The Mon Calamari Campaign II

_Dark Order: The New Empire_

_Chapter 15: The Mon Calamari Campaign II_

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN STAR WARS**

Blood. They never really mentioned blood. Jo'k had read tons of war books during his childhood and teenage years, but never had he read anything that really put down on data just how blood affected battle. It came in every shade and size, ranging from light red and large to dark red and small. It seeped, it pooled, it splattered, it sprayed, it stank. Blood smelled horrible by itself, but when mixed with the sweat, human waste and gore of the battlefield dead, it became Hell incarnate.

"MOVE IT! BY THE EMPEROR MOVE IT!" Lieutenant Falia roared as Third Platoon moved through the street, rebel fire pouring down on them like the rain that never seemed to end. Bodies dropped left and right and Jo'k wondered how many friends he would never talk with again because of this.

Third finally made it to the other side of the four lane street and began to move inside the tall building they had arrived at. The objective at the moment was to secure a major transportation hub down the road, but the infantry companies needed cover, so while they were busy firing down the street at the rebels, who were also firing down the street, Third Platoon had to move _across_ the street, braving rebel and Imperial fire to reach the dominating building that would allow their E-Webs a perfect shooting angle on the rebels holding the transport hub.

"Forra! Rraan!" Falia snapped. "Take your gun and get onto the fourth floor with Eeiak and Fujai!" The two stormtroopers didn't waste time acknowledging the order, they simply hauled their armored rears up the stairs of the building they were inside until they were on the fourth floor. They immediately took the heavy E-Web over to a window nearby Eeiak and Fujai's gun, but not so close that their lanes of fire were exactly the same. Rather, their lanes of fire overlapped slightly, increasing their firepower and damage ability slightly.

"_Captain Hark, this is Lieutenant Falia, how copy?"_ Lieutenant Faila said over the main com channel that K company used.

"_This is Captain Hark, good copy,"_

"_Captain, Third Platoon has secured both sides of the street, we have solid firing lanes and are ready to cover K and Company's assault,"_

"_Roger, Captain Hark out,"_

"Alright boys, get ready!" Falia said over the platoon com channel. "I want those rebels splattered across every hole they come out of, light them up like the lights on Empire Day!" She barked and got a loud roar of approval from Third Platoon over the com.

Then the laser fire started.

/

"Your getting better," Vader said with approval as he helped Luke up. The two men had left the training sabers aside for today's practice and instead were working on Luke's hand to hand, which Vader, despite his suit, was proving to be more than a capable opponent, Luke had barely landed a hit on the armored giant.

"Better?" Luke asked, exasperated. "It would be a stretch to call it failing," He snapped, then softened. "I am sorry...father," Luke said, still unused to calling Vader that. "It...It's just that I've...I..." Luke paused to let his mind settle before speaking again. "I just hate...hate disappointing you," He said at last.

Vader, physically, remained exactly the same as he had been before Luke's declaration. But in the force Luke could tell he was surprised. "Disappointing?" Vader asked, as if he wasn't sure Luke was speaking the same language as him. "Luke you are the most promising apprentice I have ever trained, you are the quickest learner and a true replica of my own trials in the force," Vader said. "Even if you were not my son, I would gladly take you in as my apprentice for your sheer talent alone," Vader assured him. "You are not a disappointment in the slightest. In fact, you may very well surpass Palpatine," Vader told him, seeing the raw joy, relief, and, to Vader's own glee, hunger roll across Luke's eyes. The boy was already taking to the Dark Side, he was slowly accepting it more and more and would, like Vader said, be even more powerful then Vader's pathetic master.

"T-thank you...father," Luke said, clearly stunned that Vader actually thought so highly of him. "Again?" He asked and Vader nodded. The two slid into the same Forms as before, Vader taking the more defensive Form III while Luke took the more offensive Form II, which was designed to break through Form III. The two combatants stood still for a few agonizing moments before Luke flew forward, however Vader gracefully slid to the side, his armor barely hindering him at all. Luke preformed a few spinning kicks, flurried punches and uppercuts, but Vader moved away from them all like a ghost in a thick mist, barely noticeable and completely untouchable.

Suddenly, with no warning in the force, Luke switched to Form V and launched a series of brutal, yet fast punches. Vader actually had to use his forearms to block the attack, but before Luke could switch to Form III, Vader launched his knee upwards and sent Luke flying into the roof with a loud smack. Before the youth could hit the floor, Vader sent out a massive burst of the Force and cushioned Luke's impact.

"Better," Vader said as he helped Luke back up.

/

This completely changed her plans. She had planned to find this 'possible apprentice' and kill him before Vader could react. Instead she sensed two masters, or at least one master and one that was close to being a master, dueling. She would have to try another option, another strategy. But first she must report to her master.

Moving stealthily away from the supply closet, which she had hid in to be able to mediate near Vader's quarters without drawing any curious onlookers, she made her way to a secluded hallway and closed her eyes. Immediately the connection was made and she felt her master stiffen slightly. He had been in a meeting, but she was always more important to him. Whenever she called him, it was because she had news, important news.

"_**What is it my hand? What have you found?"**_

"_Master, the traitor is not training a new apprentice, this one must have been under his tutelage far longer than even his previous one. His new apprentice is nearly a master by now."_

"_**You have done well...as always. Thank you for informing me, what is your plan?"**_

"_I plan to kill him at some point when Vader is not nearby, he cannot be with this apprentice forever, and then I will strike."_

"_**Spoken like a true Sith, when Vader's pawn is dead, we will destroy him together, and then you will serve at my side..."**_

"_As you wish, my master..."_

And like that, the connection was broken and the link was once again in standby. She _would_ serve in the light one day, she would be her master's apprentice, his _true_ apprentice. She just had to figure out how to kill this new apprentice, which she had purposely neglected to tell her master that he was far stronger than she was. Perhaps seduction would work? It had helped her before when she had dealt with stronger opponents. That was the problem with men, they thought with their loins instead of their brains.

/

"Cover!" Jarkas barked right before the grenade went off. Chunks of durasteel, permacrete, and bits of shattered glass flew everywhere as the shop next to their patrol detonated in a fireball. As numerous stormtroopers screamed for a corpsman, Jo'k tried to figure out how they had even ended up here.

After taking the transport hub, the rebel forces had withdrawn to a river that ran through half of Coral City. Currently, they were fortified on the other side of the river and all the bridges were in ruins, so Imperial Command had ordered another halt in the advance while they sent in bridge builders. The problem was that the rebels were all fanatics to their cause, and so they had elected to leave behind a few hundred souls to 'hold the line.'

In groups ranging from two dozen to only one man, the rebels were spread throughout the Imperial held side of the city, taking as many Imperial troops with them as they could. They blew up ground com lines, bombed supply transports, medical speeders and shot at any officer they ever saw. There had been a few instances where rebel troops would lay in wait for a few days, allowing Imperials to believe the area secure, then they would shoot up a large group when it was passing through to it's deployment zone.

The result of these gorilla tactics was patrols. Lots of patrols. Every single Stormtrooper was under orders to take part in a patrol at least three times every four days. Jo'k, who considered himself something of a veteran by now, had dreaded this greatly. He and Jarkas had managed to survive so far on the Mon Calamari Campaign, now they were being sent out to walk the enemy's streets with only a handful of their buddies and hope they didn't get shot. He had wanted to defect right then, but his training held firm and he had followed his orders through like a good trooper.

The first few patrols had been fine, the other half dozen or so hadn't been all that bad, but he had still walked away with a friend's blood staining his uniform. His armor plates were no longer white, not after weeks of fighting. They were a pish posh of red, green, gray, brown, and purple. The blood, tears, grime and gore of his friends and his enemies were all over his armor now and even the constant rain couldn't wash it away.

And now he felt himself drifting back to the present.

"Get a corpsman for sith's sake!" Someone shouted while another Stormtrooper, perhaps the same one, grabbed Jo'k and began to drag him away from the blast.

_Wait, when was I hit?_

"Corpsman! Corpsman!"

_Why...why is...everything...so..._

"Thank the Emperor! Co-" A loud sniper rifle retort interrupted whoever was speaking and a thud could be heard over the light rain as an armored body hit the permacrete nearby.

"Oh _Sith_! He's dead!" Someone else, Jo'k was sure this time it was someone else, said. "We gotta get outa here! Move those two, Fujai, give me a hand over here!"

And then everything became bright. Jo'k was surprised. All of the books said everything faded to black when you died. But then again, the books had never explained just what war was like, and perhaps they were wrong about death too. Perhaps...

/

**Yes, I am back. And Yes, This story is going to be completed! REVIEWS FOREVER!**


	16. Important Update

IMPORTANT UPDATE

If you are thoroughly enjoying this fic and want to support me in writing it, please go to my blog at and check it out!

This is also where I will be posting Updates on my stories, sneak peaks to future projects, chapters, and characters. I also encourage my fan base to commute there, I want you guys to get the quickest updates and that is now Blogspot for me. I am also transferring the polls there too, so check that out! Make it fun and comment and subscribe!

_Lostsword_


	17. Chapter 16: Assassin

_Dark Order: The New Empire_

_Chapter 16: Assassin_

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN STAR WARS**

* * *

_"__**How are you boy?**__" The Creature said softly as it stared at look with it's piercing white eyes. The Creature was still garbed in tattered brown robes and it still had the same gray scales, but now the golden pupils were gone._

_ "Who are you?" Luke demanded, still unnerved by the creature's random appearances in his dreams. Granted, this was the second time it had ever happened, but Luke was determined to get answers this time around._

_ "__**I?**__" The Creature said with a low, throaty chuckle. "__**I am SITH!**__" It roared and Luke was suddenly assaulted by a flash vision of a human looking man in armor standing before a massive army of various races in dark robes and armor. "__**I am WAR!**__" Luke now saw buildings burning and people fleeing in all directions as two warring groups fought in a thick, smoky mist. One side wielded red blades, the other, blue. "__**I am TRUTH!**__" Luke was assaulted by a new vision, this one showing figures in brown robes executing various warriors that were lying helplessly in the mud after the battle had finally ended._

_ "__**Who am I? WHO ARE YOU!?**__" The Creature demanded as Luke recoiled in surprise as it stood up from the massive chair it had been sitting in. The beast's pupils returned and they covered the white eyes entirely, giving the appearance of a demonic monster; which the creature looked like one anyways._

_ Before Luke could respond, The Creature continued speaking. "__**YOU**__**are the skywalker, you are the death saver, the life taker. You demolish worlds and rebuild races. YOU are the Dawn Bringer!"**__ The Creature stated, it's angry tone fading away as it walked closer to Luke, who stood rooted to the spot, frozen completely. The Force spiked tremendously for a brief moment as The Creature rested a massive claw on Luke's right shoulder. Luke was so awestruck by The Creature's massive force presence that he barely felt the sudden stinging pain in his shoulder. "__**You will be remembered as the Great One boy...but you are so much more...**__" _

_ It paused momentarily while it's eyes quickly shifted back into their original form with only a single gold and yellow dot in the center of a white expanse. "__**You must go now, She is here for you...spare her though, she will change you,**__" The Creature said with the barest hint of a smirk. "__**NOW GO!**__" It roared._

_ "Wait!" Luke tried to say, wanting to know so many things. Who was this creature was, why it was contacting him, what it meant with the cryptic messages, and especially who "she" was. Despite his outburst, The Creature raised it's left claw up and pointed a razor sharp talon at Luke's face. Knowing what was about to happen, Luke tried to avoid the sudden black fire that shot forward, but he was too slow moving. The fire surrounded Luke, though it did not burn him, in fact, it almost seemed to warm him. Luke tried to break free, but the fire covered his eyes and he was sent out of The Creature's World._

* * *

"Colonel," Lord Vader said as he disembarked from his private shuttle. The armored Sith was the sole passenger aboard the vessel, as had been the case for the past few months. He had left his adjutant, Lieutenant Lekauf, as the caretaker of his son as soon as he had discovered the boy's true heritage. "Commander."

"Milord," Colonel Veers and Commander Jork said in near perfect unison. Veers was the commanding officer of Imperial Ground Forces, Mon Calamari Task Force; Jork was the commanding officer of Vader's personal battalion, the 501st Stormtrooper Elite Infantry Battalion. Together, they represented Vader's most trusted officers on Mon Calamari.

"What is the situation," Vader asked, but did not demand, as he looked out across the vast expanse of the ruined city below. His shuttle had landed on a captured media tower that the IGF were using as their headquarters for the time being.

"The rebels have been routed in almost every engagement thus far," Veers began as he led Vader towards the glass double doors that led into the media tower. The two stormtrooper guards that were guarding the door snapped to attention and opened the doors for the trio of Imperial commanders as they approached. "However, there is one sector that they are putting up a significant struggle for. Intelligence believes it could be their command center," Veers explained as the three men entered a small room that housed a holotable, overhead lighting, and nothing more.

"Milord," Major Lorum said as he snapped to attention. Major Wigga Lorum was one of the few intelligence officers that Vader had sent down with the stormtroopers to assist in recapturing the capital of Mon Calamari. Lorum was also further distanced from his fellow officers because of his long record of combat, due to his combat experience during the Clone Wars. He had also served as an enlisted Sergeant before Vader had found him and sent him to Cardia for Officer's training.

"Major," Vader said pleasantly. Despite what the common rumors about Vader said, the dark lord was more sociable around "his" officers; "his" officers being defined as any commander within the 501st hierarchy. "What do we have?" Vader asked.

"As you can see here, sir," Lorum began, "We have the 9th Division deployed to the North, while elements of the 6th and 8th Division have been deployed to the West and East. The rebels still hold most of the southern districts." Lorum explained quickly, but smoothly, as he manipulated the controls on the holoboard before them. The battlefield rotated and the mentioned battle zones were highlighted. "The 9th is pretty banged up, sir," Lorum added with a slight tremor in his voice for the first time. Major Lorum had served with the 9th for several years after it was reconfigured from the remainder of the 4th Sector Army following the death of General Mundi.

"Can the remaining units of the 6th and 8th Divisions be brought in to relieve them?" Vader asked as he stared at the holographic image of the city. The technology was so advanced that the small fires being transmitted onto the digital map were appearing and disappearing mere moments after their physical counterparts.

"It would take considerable effort to relieve the 9th, Milord," Veers said as he observed the laser show of lights that represented the Battle for Coral Square. Elements of the 9th, Veers noticed the identification chips showed that the units were the 101st Stormtrooper Infantry Battalion, were fighting viciously for the center of Coral city. Likewise, the rebel soldiers, highlighted in a glowing red as opposed to the dull bluish-green of the Imperial stormtroopers, were fighting just as hard to maintain their positions there. "They are heavily entrenched..."

"Find a way to do it," Vader said, for the first time sounding somewhat angry, his voice was ice. "Commander," Vader said after several moments of silence. "Detach the 501st from the 6th Division. We are going to go assist the relief efforts."

"Yes, milord," Commander Jork said as he privately brought his personal respect for Vader up several notches. The dark lord might be the cruelest being in the galaxy when it came to the rebellion, but no one could say he did not care about the Empire's troops. What other commander brought his personal unit out of heavy fighting, only to take it somewhere with even heavier fighting to relieve a badly outnumbered and outgunned unit? None.

* * *

Mara couldn't believe her luck; she simply was dumbstruck by it really. The officer that had been watching him had left for a few minutes to make a head call while leaving two stormtroopers on duty outside the apprentice's door.

Smiling, she walked up to the two men and as she suspected, they lowered their rifles only slightly. A pretty female with ample curves always distracted men, it was one of the perks she had that helped her do her job so well.

"I'm here to clean the room," She said shyly as she gestured at the hover cart behind her. Dressed in her disguise as a member of the ship cleaning crew, Mara was fairly sure the troopers would allow her entrance into the locked room. The only problem she had with this was that it was designated as a VIP suite and the stormtroopers were Vader's personal troops. There was still a pretty good chance that they wouldn't let her by, but she could always hope.

"Identification," the stormtrooper demanded as he stared at her critically from behind the optic lenses of his helmet. Mara was beginning to wonder if there was a recording option in the helmet when he seemed to take a longer time then usual to focus on her face again.

"Oh, I'll only be in for a minute, do I really have to go through this?" Mara asked with what she hoped sounded like an overworked woman ready to complain to someone.

"Procedure," the stormtroopers comrade said. This one wasn't as distracted and had already lowered his blaster almost, but not quiet, level with Mara. Deciding she would have to go the dirty way, Mara drew her lightsaber, and in one quick motion she severed both troopers' throats before returning the blade to her belt. It all happened within a few seconds.

Moving with the Force flowing through her, she caught both bodies and stopped them from crashing to the floor. Lowering them down gently, she hoped the apprentice had not been disturbed from his sleep as she cautiously unlocked the secure door with her Imperial issue lock breaker, special issue.

The room was not what Mara expected; she was used to lavish suites with highly expensive furniture and mind boggling amounts of useless items that the owner would only use once or twice. Instead, she found a spartan like room that contained a small couch, a holoscreen secured to the wall across from the couch, a desk, and a computer that sat on top of said desk; the room was even the same dull colors as the rest of the Imperial destroyer. She had no idea why, but for some reason Mara had expected the room to be lavish. Dragging the stormtrooper bodies into the room, she shut the door and swiftly headed over to the only other door in the room. This led to the apprentice's room.

Checking the interior, Mara was pleased, and once again surprised, to find the apprentice asleep. _Perhaps he's a deep sleeper_, Mara thought quietly to herself as she broke the door's lock with the, thankfully silent, lock breaker.

Slinking into the room, Mara found it was just like the rest of the man's quarters. It was just as dull, and twice as spartan. The only personal affects she found in the room was a jar of sand, a holographic orb of Tatooine, and a bookshelf jammed with various Force related material. Once she was sure the room was secure, Mara advanced towards the bed.

The bed was the only thing lavish about the entire VIP suite. It was large, plush, and probably could buy a speeder or two with the retail value it surely had. The blankets were black silk, and Mara was willing to bet that the rest was equally expensive. The extremely plush pillows, there were dozens of the black objects, were piled high.

The man was sleeping on his side and Mara could just make out small tufts of blonde hair peaking out from under the pile of fabric. Using the Force once more, Mara straddled the man, who she decided had to be in a deep sleep, as he didn't even register her presence. Taking a breath, Mara prepared herself for the struggle and ignited her lightsaber. The hiss did nothing to wake the man below her and Mara began to fear that this was some sort of trap; it just didn't feel right. Raising the blade above her, Mara prepared to deliver a precise killing strike as her master had taught her, however at that very instant the Force surged and the man awoke.

Snapping his head to the side groggily, Luke looked straight up at the heavy object that Lekauf had placed on him, probably as a stupid joke, and found himself staring in the most perfect green eyes he had ever seen in his life. Her startled expression and ignited lightsaber quickly told Luke what was happening and he, with the same razor sharp speed that Vader had been instilling in him, shot his palm outwards in the direction of the assassin.

Mara, for her part, had been frozen solid as she gazed into the purest blue eyes she had even seen. The face was something that belonged on the angels she had dreamed about in her youth, not on Vader's deadly apprentice. Her hesitation costed her greatly, the boy threw his palm up at her and she flew backwards across the room and slammed into the wall with bone crunching pain. Her right arm snapped and her lightsaber shut off as it rolled away into the darkness of the room. _No!_

She was stunned that the boy, for he _obviously_ wasn't a man, had so much power for someone so young. She was barely an adult herself, but she had been training for years and years under her master and she was nowhere _near_ his power level. It was insane!

Still somewhat groggy, the boy rose from his bed and advanced on the stunned assassin. _Get up!_, Mara yelled mentally as she tried to rise, however an enormous Force hold captured her and seconds later she felt the apprentice break past her mental shields and reach for a very familiar part of her brain. _NO!_

With the casualness of flipping a switch, Luke knocked the assassin out and studied the beauty before him. He still had no idea what was going on, other than the obvious, but he was beginning to think of who might have sent her when Lekauf burst into the room with a blast pistol in hand.

"Luke!" He shouted, only to stare in a mixture of amazement and surprise at the crumpled body of the assassin and Luke, who was standing unharmed before her.

"Thanks for the heads up," Luke said dryly as Lekauf felt both terror and relief at the fact that Luke was still alive.

"We better go report this to your father..." Lekauf said grimly as he thought about what would happen to him. He had left the room for a few minutes to relieve his bladder and he had not wanted to disturb Luke by using the restroom connected to the boy's room, so he had gone down the hall after ordering the stormtroopers guarding the room to remain especially vigilant. He had returned to find the troopers dead and the door's lock broken.

"First we better get her locked up somewhere," Luke said, gesturing to the unconscious assassin. As he said this, he noticed something on the floor and reached down to pick it up. _Her lightsaber_, Luke thought as he clipped it to his belt, figuring, for the time being, he had the right to hold on to it.

"I'll take care of it," Lekauf assured him as he pulled out his emergency communicator and called ship security.

* * *

**So, do you like the new chapter? I listened to your reviews and decided to drop the Imperial trooper storyline. If you liked it, however, I have created a strictly Stormtrooper story called "The Corps" if you want to continue reading about the Imperial's elite troops.**

**I know it was a bit unrealistic to have Mara straddle Luke instead of killing him, but I figured that A) it was hot, and B) she had some reason that related to Palpatine telling her to always make sure the target is retained or something. Whatever the case, let me know how it all went and PLEASE review.**

**If you just skipped the update I put up, check out my blog at and like me on Facebook at LostswordFanFicAuthor**

**That's all I got for now, enjoy!**

_**Lostsword**_


	18. Chapter 17: The Hand Part I

_Dark Order: The New Empire_

_Chapter 17: The Hand Part I_

With a deadly hiss Lord Vader's blood red blade arced upwards perfectly and cleaved the rebel soldier precisely in half. The heavily armored sith marched swiftly forward—completely ignoring the heavy laser fire that was occupying the air all around him—and cut down yet another rebel soldier with a graceful flourish.

"Forward!" Captain Slick shouted to the scattered stormtroopers over the thunderous roar of the battle. "For the Empire!" Slick added as he ran forward to catch up with his lord. The stormtroopers were hot on his heels while the laser fire increased as the rebel soldiers realized that the Imperial's were charging their skirmish line.

Vader himself was at least a dozen or so yards ahead of the advancing troopers, even Slick was farther back. There was simply no way to contend with a sith lord when it came to attacking and at that moment Vader was dominating the battle. The rebels were unable to hit him, every time they tried the dark lord would merely—almost casually—reflect the bolt of heated plasma back to it's owner.

As he cut down his foes left and right, Vader absentmindedly wondered when he had last felt this good. He hadn't been in combat in the past few months due to his dual responsibilities of guarding the princess—which had failed because of one, now dead, simpleton's mistake—and keeping an eye on Luke. Now he was finally back into the swing of things and was enjoying it _thoroughly_. Not that he would let it show though.

With an expert swing Vader decapitated a rebel standing before a sandbag fortification. Two more slice and two more rebels fell, one cut in half horizontally and the other spewing his guts onto the ground as well as his blood. Without even pausing, Vader swung his blade to the right and cut down yet another soldier before flinging his well worn weapon through the air and into a rebel that had up until that moment been directing his fellows in setting up an anti-infantry emplacement.

As the blade flew out of the man's chest and into Vader's waiting hand the other two rebels that had been setting up the gun emplacement turned towards Vader and tried to bring their rifles to bear. Too late. Vader cut them down with the same cold, ruthless efficiency that he had used when dispatching the previous rebels. Only in his mind was he drinking in their deaths; though even in battle indulging in the mind was a _very_ dangerous thing.

"Commander!" Vader barked as he scanned the ruined city street with the force in search of the 501st commanding officer. Commander Jork, to his credit as a "true officer", was advancing right next to Captain Slick. The two men did not waste time saluting Vader—it was a foolish thing to do on the battlefield.

"Sir?" Commander Jork said crisply while Slick parroted him.

"Get two men; turn this emplacement around," Vader ordered before advancing down the still heavily contested street yet again. Laser fire was easily blocked by his blade as Vader pushed ahead. It was only a few moments before he heard the tell tale sounds of the anti-infantry gun firing. The only difference was that it was now point _towards_ the rebels instead of Vader's troops.

"Sniper!" someone cried out suddenly over the com as the loud retort of a high powered laser rifle could be heard echoing out across the city's central district. Vader, both from his experiences in the Clone Wars and his force infused senses, was able to make out the sniper almost immediately after seeing a thin bolt of green plasma enter and exit through a stormtrooper's white helmet.

"Continue advancing, I will deal with the sniper," Vader growled over the comm as he made his way towards the building the rebel sniper was holed up in. Vader would admit that it was an ideal location for a sniper. It was a tall building with lots of windows, but also plenty of cover. The only problem Vader could see was that it was _not_ behind the rebel's rapidly retreating defensive line. Stupid brave fools...

"You heard Lord Vader!" Commander Jork barked out over the comm network. "Keep advancing!" He roared as he fired his E-11 blaster rifle in short, accurate bursts. Whether it was because of Vader's promise to remove the sniper or their immediate superior ordering them forward, the stormtroopers pushed past what little cover they had hunkered down behind—yet again—and promptly began to fall to rebel fire. The Imperial Stormtroopers, however, did not waiver.

Vader, meanwhile, kicked the burnt front door belonging to the sniper's building clear off it's hinges. He was immediately treated to a barrage of laser fire, however, his lightsaber once again repelled the brightly colored death while at the same time reducing the sentry bot—a common device used by the vast majority of the galaxy's advanced planet security forces—to a small metallic scrap heap.

Once he had dealt with the bot, Vader made his way up the damaged stairs towards the fourth floor where he had last seen the sniper. The rebel was either unafraid of death or unaware of Vader's presence—which was unlikely—because he had refused to stop firing at Vader's troops as they scurried by on the bombed out street below.

With another kick Vader sent yet another door off it's hinges and finally caught sight of the sniper. The sniper, more of a boy than a man, was a small furry creature that would have barely came up to Vader's waist. Nestled in it's arms was a damaged and ancient looking laser rifle with a surprisingly high tech looking scope.

The creature fired off two more shots—and Vader was forced to admit that he was impressed with the calmness of the sniper, given the circumstances—before it was cut down vivaciously by the sith's blood red blade.

Forgoing the stairs, Vader reached down and picked up the sniper's laser rifle and proceeded to walk down the side of the room until he came to a blown out portion that gave Vader a perfect view of the exposed street below that was currently occupied by the rebels.

After carefully disengaging his blade and re-attaching it to his belt, Vader slid the old rifle up and into his shoulder. Though he was not—and never had been—a rifle master, Vader knew exactly what to do to kill an opponent with one.

Remembering the most basic instructions from another life, Vader grit his teeth while using the force to slow his breathing and heart rate which caused the targeting reticle inside the high tech scope came into focus. Vader instinctively checked the weapon for any prominent errors and, upon finding none, concentrated on finding the rebels leading the mindless rabble out in the street.

"Commander," Vader said calmly as he caught sight of one of the desired rebel leaders.

"Sir?" Commander Jork said over the com line as he fired his E-11 and smiled in satisfaction as a rebel's head shot backwards with a bloody hole where her nose had once been.

"Have all squads toss grenades to the left and right of the main rebel defensive line," Vader ordered calmly while he made sure his rifle's sights were accurately displaying the correct information to him.

"As you command sire,"

Vader waited a total of thirty seconds—ten to relay the command, ten to execute it, and ten for the small metal orbs, Vader recognized them immediately as Imperial issue anti-personnel grenades, to to go off—before he saw dozens of white and blue explosions ripple out along the left and right rebel flanks. As Vader had predicted, the rebels began to hunker down while their leaders—who had foolishly been standing out in the open—dove for cover in the seemingly safe center.

_Perfect_.

Vader squeezed the trigger of his ancient rifle and watched with dull, if only _slightly_ appreciative, joy as the bolt took a rebel's head clean off. He squeezed the trigger again and another rebel was sent flying backwards as the force guided round hit him like a brick wall. Another pull and another kill. Another pull and another kill. Another, another, another, yet another; again and again and again.

The rebels completely gave up any semblance of unity and flat out ran for their lives as the sith lord unleashed long range death. Snipers were bad enough, sith lords were worse; the two combined was unimaginable. Vader, despite his carefully maintained professionalism, couldn't help but smile as he turned away from the blown out section of the wall and headed towards the stairs.

Upon reaching ground level again, Vader heard Jork say something briefly on another line—sometimes the different comm lines blurred into each other due to the high communication traffic surrounding them—before he switched to his private channel reserved for Lord Vader.

"Milord," Jork said gravely as he trotted over to Vader's position by the now deceased sniper's building. "It seems something has happened aboard the _Devastator_, Lieutenant Lekauf has activated the blue flag."

Though Vader appeared unchanged to Commander Jork, Vader was in fact frozen solid. The Blue Flag Protocol meant that Luke had been either attacked and/or nearly killed and that a prisoner was awaiting Lord Vader's interrogation.

"Commander, please excuse me," Vader informed his subordinate as the slightly smaller man nodded. Vader was confident in Jork's abilities, he would see the objective—Coral City Square—captured even if Vader wasn't there to help. "It seems I have matters to attend to,"

"Of course sire, we'll finish up down here," Commander Jork assured him before heading off to assist Slick with the advance. While he did that, Vader reached down into one of his belt's many compartments and pulled out his communicator.

"Major Lorum, sir," Major Lorum said calmly as soon as the connection was made.

"Prepare my shuttle," Vader barked as he hailed a nearby transport taking wounded back to the field hospital that was conveniently located right next to the Imperial field headquarters.

Someone was going to _Die_.

* * *

Luke waited patiently for his father to arrive while Lekauf hovered nearby. The man—who was really Luke's only friend—had all but refused to blink around his charge for fear of another assassin sneaking past his watch. He had somehow gotten it into his head that Vader was going to kill him just because an assassin had made it into his boss's son's room.

_Well when you put it like that_, Luke thought as he made a gesture at Lekauf.

"Calm down already, I'm _fine_, sheesh," Luke said as Lekauf half glared at him. The lieutenant finally gave in after another few minutes and collapsed into a chair next to Luke.

His father's adjutant had been running himself ragged for the past two days while trying to keep an—if it was possible—_increased_ level of watchfulness over Luke while _also_ trying to pin down Darth Vader to inform him of the assassination attempt only a few days prior.

In theory, tracking down the commanding military official of an entire invasion force shouldn't have been that hard. And it hadn't been; at least it hadn't been until Vader had decided to spearhead the relief movement made by Command to save what was left of the 9th Division with his own personal battalion.

Tracking Lord Vader down in the middle of participating in a major military action against an extremely hostile force had been one of the hardest assignments Lekauf's post had ever seen the lieutenant face.

Not only was Vader prone to accidentally "forget" to inform Command of his whereabouts, he also liked to place himself so far forward on the advance that there was serious concern that Imperial artillery would hit him.

This made reaching him rather hard considering half the time rebel jammers blocked all communications inside the city, which of course resulted in more than one runner being dispatched and then returned hours later in a body bag.

Somehow though Lekauf had located his lord and in Vader's proper nature he had replied to the Blue Flag as quickly as he could. Namely, he was on his way towards the _Devastator_ now and was expecting a warm cell. Which left the two men where they were now—waiting on the sith lord outside of the detention center.

Glancing down at his sleek chronowatch, Luke absentmindedly wondered where his father could be. They had already been informed that he had docked in the hanger and his order to wait for him outside the detention center was still standing.

As if on cue a large form covered in blood sprinkled black armor stalked towards them from a nearby intersection that connected several other halls. The sith lord had already probed Luke with the force a dozen plus times, but now he also searched him with his eyes—which with the computer enhancements gave him far better detail than even the sharpest human eyes. Vader, now that he could actually see Luke, was surprised to notice a faint trace of a foreign force signature, but other than that his boy seemed fine, though he did seem tense. Most likely he was excited to find out just _who_ this assassin was and who had sent them.

Though if Luke's description of her was accurate, Vader had a pretty good idea.

With a simple grunt the sith lord advanced into the detention center with both his son and adjutant right at his heels. The officer on duty didn't even ask what or who the dark lord needed, he merely snapped his fingers and two stormtroopers led the two sith and the lieutenant down a path of short cramped hallways and sharp turns before finally stopping at a squat metal door in the very center of the star destroyer.

The first of the two stormtroopers typed a code into the door and walked forward once it slid upwards into the roof. The trooper quietly made sure the room was secure and that the occupant within was still both sedated and secured before informing his lord of the woman's current state.

"The prisoner is still sedated sire," the trooper said calmly as he exited the cell and stopped before Lord Vader. "Just hit the green switch on the console and the counter agent will be administered," he said before assuming his post on the side of the doorway opposite of his partner.

Vader nodded briefly, more of a show of thanks to the trooper, before he, Luke, and Lekauf entered the cell. The room was bare—like all Imperial prison cells—but instead of the normal metal slab for a bunk there was an eight point restraint system set up against the far wall with a sleeping woman in a black body glove secured inside. Before the restraints sat a hastily connected computer console that Vader noticed contained settings enabling it to be used as a torture device as well as a restraint. Impressive.

"Wake her," Vader ordered Lekauf as he crossed his arms and allowed the very darkness within his being to ooze outwards and accentuate his demonic and demoralizing appearance even more. His deathly visor was the first thing the heavily drugged women before him saw when she came too. Her face paled and her eyes went wide as her body shook violently. It was good to know he could still cause that level of fear in his master's most hardened age despite his "old age". Hah.

"Hello Jade."

* * *

**Hope you enjoyed that, I HAD to leave you with a cliff hanger, that's why this ended so early. Anyways, enjoy your Christmas break and review and all that good stuff. Seriously though, review.**

_**Lostsword**_


	19. Chapter 18: The Hand Part II

_Dark Order: The New Empire_

_Chapter 18: The Hand Part II  
_

Mara Jade was many things; she was a master assassin; she was the perfect covert operative; she was the greatest agent the Emperor had ever trained; she was in the possession of an unbreakable poker face; and, in her personal opinion, she was the deadliest female in the galaxy. Things like Imperial officers or interrogation chambers would frighten others, but they had no right to frighten her.

And yet here she was quivering in her boots as the Supreme Commander of the Imperial Armed Forces entered her cell. The enclosed space of the steel chamber appeared to become even smaller as the dark lord stopped before her and eyed her with a mixture of contempt, hatred, and the barest hint of amusement.

"Hello Jade," Lord Vader rasped from behind his helmeted head. The Emperor's Sith walked up to the Imperial Hand and calmly placed one hand on her forehead. Jade, breaking all her discipline and training, struggled viciously against her restraints. There was no use, the eight point system was all but inescapable and she had been drugged for hours beforehand.

_Pain!_

A flash of white hot agony flashed across her mind as Vader began the mind probe. Jade, who was nowhere near as capable a force user as Vader, was unable to resist the powerful assault and felt more flashes of pain appear.

_Pain! Pain! Pain! Pain! Pain! Pain!_

Her mind exploded within itself and Jade saw her memories ripped through with the brutal efficiency due a Sith Lord. Her body convulsed against the restraints as Vader tore through her mind like a hungry Kla'Kall who had found its first meal in weeks.

The probe lasted only a few brief minutes to the majority of the cell's occupants. To Mara Jade however, it lasted an eternity. The flashes had only increased and her mind was all but brain-dead as Vader delved deeper and deeper into the inner workings of his master's favored agent.

Mara tried to fight against the probe of course, she had been trained by her master in case such an occasion as this ever happened. But, unlike how it normally went for Mara Jade on missions, her careful preparations and fall out plans were null and void. She had failed.

_PAIN!_

Mara felt Vader finish his probe while at the same time she registered a new mental explosion within her mind. This one was far stronger than the past few and Mara quickly realized that this one was designed to knock her out rather than break any previously existing mental walls. The blast ripped through her and the world closed in on itself. The blackness, if nothing else, was the only comforting thing Mara had found over the past few days.

* * *

Lord Vader was not pleased. He was not pleased in the slightest. He had expected the Emperor to revisit the issue of Vader's quarters, and the unknown presence there, at a later date. He had _not_ expected him to send his top agent in an attempt to kill his secret apprentice, and only son, while he was fighting planetside. That was a mistake Vader vowed would never happen again.

He had quickly searched Jade's mind and found, among other things, a vocal order from Emperor Palpatine to kill Vader's apprentice. The fact that his master had conducted the meeting within the confines of his private throne room inside the Imperial Palace showed how unsettled his master was by the sudden turn of events.

The ease with which Jade had made it aboard his ship was expected, she had been trained to do just such an act. However, the ease with which she had snuck into his son's private quarters was unnerving and it would require an extremely unpleasant lesson in discipline to those responsible. He had half a mind to execute Lekauf, the Stormtrooper detachment commander, and the ship's captain by firing squad before the top officers aboard to set an example. However he needed Lekauf and an execution would likewise only hinder him at the moment.

Seething in frustration, Vader realized that he would have to make a decision on how to proceed. He could either drive straight for Coruscant while he had the advantage or, being more tactical for once, he could gather those forces that were loyal to him and attack Coruscant under more favorable circumstances. The only true factor right now was time. If he turned on his master now things could easily fall apart, but if he waited and struck later, his master would have more time to prepare.

Deciding that he would have to meditate on this, Vader mentally knocked Jade unconscious before removing himself from her mind. The entire probe had taken only a few minutes and yet Vader still felt drained.

"Lieutenant," Vader said softly from within his helmet, "please return my son to his quarters."

"At once, milord," Lieutenant Lekauf said as he gestured for Luke to exit the cell. Before he himself had exited, Vader called out to him again.

"Lieutenant," Vader added just as his adjunct was nearly out the cell door, "you will report to me when you are done. I will be in my quarters."

Lekauf visibly gulped before nodding. "Of course...Lord Vader," he said before following Luke outside.

* * *

As the last of the Imperial senators exited the vast throne room, the Emperor brooded on the troubling issue that had suddenly become even more troubling.

_Vader must have found Jade...she would have reported by now if she had not been captured. I feared this would come to pass..._

"Your excellency," A man said in a deep, rich accent as he broke off from the departing senators and approached the throne itself. He was short and portly, with graying hair and growing wrinkles, and he was attired in an extravagantly decorated robe. With the practiced ease of a gentleman of the Imperial Court, the man stopped before the throne and bowed low above the marble steps. "You summoned me majesty?"

"Yes," the Emperor said softly as he made a subtle gesture to the Imperial guardsman by the doors. The red robed warriors bowed deeply before exiting the throne room and sealing the doors behind them. "I have a need for your services yet again, I'm afraid."

The man's eyes, originally a light, laughter filled blue, flickered briefly to a dull green before shimmering back to their original color. "What do you have in mind, my Emperor?

Palpatine felt a slow, demonic smile seep across his features as he leaned forward.

* * *

"Reporting as ordered, Lord Vader," Lieutenant Lekauf said as he came to rigid attention after entering his commander's quarters. The Supreme Commander was in his meditation sphere, his helmet and the upper portions of his armor were removed, and he was deep in thought.

Vader remained silent for a very long moment as he continued to concentrate. The force was telling him something, he was sure of it, but he could not focus himself in order to make the message clear.

The force was centered around the city-world of Coruscant, the obvious implication was that Vader was to invade the planet and gain the throne. The only problem that Vader had was determining if he should act now or later. It all depended on the timing now.

Sighing, Vader opened his scarred eyes and glanced at his adjunct. The lieutenant had never flinched at Vader's wounds, he had never shown fear or disgust when Vader had probed him early in the Lieutenant's career. That fact was one of the things, among others, that had kept him from dying by Vader's hand after such a long career serving on the dark lord's personal staff.

"Tell me what happened," Vader ordered, getting straight to the point as he hit a switch beside him. There was an immediate roar as machinery buzzed and spat all around him before they began to move as well. Mechanical arms and eyes worked in unison to flawlessly reattach Vader's armor plates and helmet, each sealing with a metallic hiss and click.

"Sir," Lekauf began after taking a deep breath, "the intruder snuck aboard the _Devastator_ by disguising herself as one of the technicians that were being rotated into the ship's crew. She then...disposed of one of the ship's cleaning crew members and used that disguise to infiltrate the ship further."

Lekauf paused briefly as he prepared to admit the one part of that fateful night that could still very well cost him his life. "Sir," he began, "I...I...um...I," Lekauf struggled with his words as he felt Vader's patience growing thinner while his anger grew increasingly higher.

"I...left my post, briefly," Lekauf finally admitted, "it was a grave mistake...I have no right to beg for your forgiveness or to ask that you spare my life," he said softly, but quickly, as his heart rate accelerated rapidly. Still standing ram-rod straight as he stood before his commander, Lekauf blinked only once before he spoke again.

"I will willingly accept the consequences of my actions," Lekauf said.

Vader stared at him for a very long, very tense moment before he spoke.

"Lieutenant Lekauf," Vader said softly, "Make sure that the prisoner is properly restrained."

Lekauf, almost knocked off his feet by the relief he was feeling, saluted crisply. "As you wish, milord," Lekauf said before turning around and exiting Vader's quarters. He had done it, he had survived.

Repressing a smile that certainly would have spread from one ear to the other, Lekauf all but floated as he turned down a corridor that would lead him straight to the maximum detention cell block.

That was when the alarms started blaring.


	20. Chapter 19: The Showdown

_**A/N: I miss writing Star Wars...I really do.**_

_**DISCLAIMER: I did not generate the Sith creature's name. I did come up with the creature and his backstory by myself, but I would like to thank the starsidergalaxy website for their ingenious Basic-to-Sith translator. I honestly would have never made up as cool a name for the creature without their translator, so tops off to them!**_

* * *

_Dark Order: The New Empire_

_Chapter 19: The Showdown_

_ Luke was floating calmly in his quarters, quietly reading an ancient manuscript on Sith lore and meditating. Ever since he had been visited in his dreams by the disturbing creature, Luke had been scouring the considerable literary collection that Vader had compiled over the years on any of the ancient Sith beasts. Sadly, his efforts had yet to yield results._

_ Deep down, Luke knew that the creature had some important roll to play in his life, something to do with that red haired girl. It had saved his life when he had dueled with Lumiya on Vjun, and it had saved him again from his near-assassination. It was obviously trying to guide him somewhere._

_**"**____**You have no idea **__**boy."**_

_ Luke recoiled immediately as he felt a terribly dark presence enter his mind. It was the creature._

_ "____Who are you?__" Luke questioned through the force as he softly set his manuscript down on the floor below him._

___**"I have informed you already child, have you already forgotten?"**_

_ Luke was slightly surprised at the humor he sensed rolling off the being's presence. "You spoke quickly and none of those titles were names," Luke countered out loud, wondering if the creature could even hear him if he spoke out loud. In response, he heard a mental chuckle roll gently across his mind._

_ "____**I can child. You may call me...T**____**ã**____**ve **____**Ż**____**av**____**ü**____**s J**____**ę**____**v**____**ȉșȭ**____** Iv **____**Ƭǟ**____**ve Ts**____**ǐ**____**s**__**."**_

_ There was another brief pause before the chuckling occurred once more before yet another brief pause._

___**"I forgot that your race has not evolved enough to speak such a language as mine...Master will suffice."**_

_ Luke stiffened immediately as he glared at the roof, the only reason behind this being that he had nowhere else to glare at but the source of the voice inside the room that was coming from within his mind. "You are not my master," he said tersely._

_**"**____**Nor are you my pupil...yet**__**."**_

_ Before Luke could respond, the near tranquil silence was broken as the ship was rocked by a booming alarm klaxon._

_ "Alert," a technician said calmly over the ship wide intercom system, "prisoner escaping from cell block A."_

_**"**____**She is heading towards the engine bay**__**."**_

_ Luke started immediately, and in the process breaking out of his trance-like meditation, as he realized that the redheaded female had somehow managed to escape. Without even pausing to contact his father, Luke jumped to his feet and quickly exited his private quarters, the ancient manuscript now forgotten. Ignoring the stormtroopers rushing down the halls, Luke used the force to propel himself in the opposite direction._

_ Luke realized the creature was almost certainly right. He knew fully well, thanks to hours of forced instruction by his teachers on Vjun, that the standard protocol for a prisoner escaping the brig called for stormtroopers to be dispatched to the hanger bay and the cell block. _

_ The stormtroopers would go from there if they did not find the prisoner along the way, but Luke had a hunch that they wouldn't find anything. He was almost certain that this female was just as well versed, if not more so, in Imperial protocol as he was. Therefore, she was most likely heading somewhere else. Somewhere that she could cause a big enough distraction to avoid the stormtrooper patrols until she was off the ship._

_ The engine bays._

_ Luke flew past the stream of stormtroopers, officers, and technicians as he sped towards the engine bays at full speed. The creature seemed to chuckle once more before its presence vanished all together. Rather than attempt to figure out where it could have possibly gone, Luke redoubled his efforts to stop the red haired assassin. It turned out to be easier than he would have expected._

_ Luke sensed, rather than saw, the blow aimed at his chin and dodged it with a graceful twist that would have left a twi'lek envious. Without thinking, the young Sith slid into Form II and his lightsaber __soared into his hand._

_ "I see Vader hasn't been wasting his time with you," the female taunted, her silky voice seeming far to perfect to Luke's ears._

_ "Thank you," Luke said softly as he eyed her figure, which was akin to a dancers lithe form. Only the dancer's body didn't compare to hers..._

_ "My eyes are up here," she teased and Luke blushed heavily as he realized he had been caught staring. "Honestly, I would be flattered if the attention wasn't from someone so ____young__."_

_ Luke looked at her curiously, "young?" He asked, dubious, "you're one to talk."_

_ The redhead blushed briefly before scowling at him, "I didn't come here to flirt fly-boy, I came her to ____kill__," and with that, the woman shot forward._

_ Luke, momentarily caught off guard by the sight of her blushed features, felt the lightspeed-quick punch connect with a bone jarring crunch. The young Sith flew through the air and slammed into the steel bulkhead directly behind him as the redheaded assassin shot after him. It was only at the last minute that he was able to bring his lightsaber up to stop her next attack cold._

_ Rather than lose a leg, the assassin adjusted her aim mid-kick and instead sent Luke's lightsaber flying across the room. The blade automatically shut down as it left its owner's hands before it clattered across the steel deck of the engine bay until it finally came to a rest behind a row of coolant tanks._

_ "Lets just see how well you know the Way of the Hawk-Bat," she taunted Luke as she slid into an overly aggressive stance, one arm forward and ready to strike._

_ "That form is rather taxing," Luke commented as he remained in his Form II stance, the Way of the Ysalamir._

_ "And yours is rather boring," she snapped before launching at Luke once more, only this time with twice the ferocity. The blonde, while less experienced, had a stronger command of the force than the redhead. Thus, Luke would outlast her as he countered each blow she threw at him as if they were merely water droplets hitting a stone wall._

_ The woman, after only five or so minutes of trading fruitless blows back and forth, realized that she was not going to win the duel as it stood at that exact moment. Deciding to gamble, she faked a kick at Luke before abruptly switching into Form VII, the way of the Vornskr. The sudden switch did __the trick and the woman gained the upperhand against him as she unleashed attacks that were even more ferocious and unpredictable than those belonging to Form IV._

_ "Not so tough now are you?" She taunted before delivering a brutal roundhouse kick that sent Luke into a coolant pipe. Or at least, it should have sent him flying into a coolant pipe. Instead, the red haired assassin found herself lying on the floor, her mind spinning as she slowly came to terms with the fact that she had just been ____shot__._

_ "Your...father..." Lieutenant Lekauf spat out as he stopped to catch his breath, his whole body shaking as he panted softly, "is going...to kill...me."_

_ "Well you just helped recapture the escaped prisoner, so I wouldn-" Luke started to say, only to realize where the woman had just landed. "Get down!" Luke roared just before the lightsaber flew through the air nearly decapitated the two men. Instead, they crashed to the floor as the assassin dashed off into the shadows of the engine bay._

_ "You just had to say that...didn't you?" Lekauf said bitterly as he gingerly sat up, Luke hadn't helped him to the floor in the most gentle of manners. Though it had saved his life, so he would forgive it this one time._

_ "I'm guessing saying I'm sorry wouldn't help, would it?" Luke asked._

_ Lekauf groaned._

* * *

_"I am sending you back to Vjun," Vader said as he and Luke stood side by side on the bridge of the ____Devastator__. The two men were both indulging in their love of the stars and gazing out at the beautiful display of bright dots glowing in the distance behind the massive watery orb that was Mon Calamari._

_ "But I thought I handled the assassin," Luke protested softly, clearly hurt that his father did not trust him to defend himself._

_ "I am not worried about the Emperor's Hand," Vader replied calmly, but with a slightly more soothing note woven into his normally clipped and superior tone. "The Emperor is coming here to observe the final subjugation of the planet."_

_ Luke's eyes widened slightly as he realized the gravity of the situation, "but I could help you," Luke protested._

_ "____When__ we move against the Emperor," Vader said to his son, this time even more softly than before, "we will do so together."_

_ Luke nodded and bowed to his father and master as he heard Lieutenant Lekauf enter the bridge. "Very well master," Luke said, fully aware that the crew could still hear snippets of their conversation and that he could not refer to Vader as his father in their presence. _

_ "Good," Vader nodded, proud of the maturity his son was showing. "You will leave immediately for Vjun, Lieutenant Lekauf will accompany you, of course."_

_ "Very well," Luke said before bowing once more, this time with Lekauf, before he turned around and headed for the blast doors that led out of the bridge._

_ "Oh and Skywalker," Vader said softly while mentally adding ____Luke__ through their bond in the force._

_ "Yes, my master?" Luke asked, confused._

_ "I am proud of you."_

_ "Tha...thank you...master," Luke said softly, gratitude, acceptance, and joy rolling off his presence in waves as he bid Vader goodbye once more before leaving at last. Vader tracked him all the way to the hanger bay through the force, even though he had physically returned to staring out at the stars._

_ He knew how much his small comment had meant to his son. The boys "parents" had never complimented him on much because he refused to conform to their simplistic lifestyle. He had craved adventure and they had wanted him to be caged, blocked off, so that Vader would never find him. Proud had never even been apart of their vocabulary when it came to Luke. Vader planned to use it as often as he could once he had finished securing the blasted planet floating off the bow of his ship._

_ Vader sensed the shuttle carrying his son and Lieutenant Lekauf lift off inside the main hanger bay within the ____Devastator__ before it flew out into the depths of space at a startling speed. Vader smiled softly, secure in the knowledge that no one would see it because of his mask, as he realized that his son was piloting the ship. Lekauf, despite his long military career, was utterly terrified as Luke preformed various maneuvers of increasingly questionable sanity. It lasted only a few minutes before Lekauf had finally plotted their course and the small shuttle suddenly vanished from Vader's senses as it entered hyperspace._

_ Absentmindedly, Vader realized this had been the first time Luke had actually been in the seat of a real spacecraft. All of his previous experience had come from the, admittedly realistic, simulators on Vjun. Vader would have to inform Commander Jork about supplying Luke with a ship while he was staying at Vader's private retreat. But that would have to wait, he had a subjugation to attend to._

_ "Captain," Vader called and the newly appointed Captain Piett came forward immediately._

_ "Yes, milord?"_

_ "Prepare my shuttle."_


	21. Chapter 20: Return to Vjun

_Dark Order: The New Empire_

_Chapter 20: Return to Vjun_

Section III: The Commander

"Tower to unknown flight, identify yourself and your business here. This is a classified sector."

"Tower, this is V-2, we are on a classified mission from high deliverer," Luke said calmly into the ship's com mike as he guided the shuttle into Vjun's atmosphere. Lieutenant Lekauf, sitting next to him in the co-pilots chair, nodded his praise at Luke's steady performance.

"Acknowledged V-2, transmit your identification codes and state your cargo and crew."

"Transmitting," Luke informed the tower after Lekauf had pressed an assortment of blinking buttons. "No cargo aboard tower," Luke informed them as the atmosphere began to fade away and the crystal clear skies of Vjun began to appear. "My crew is myself and one passenger."

"Acknowledged V-2."

Luke felt an odd sense of déjà vu as he waited for the tower to process the identification codes. Had it really only been a few short months since Lekauf had guided a shuttle very similar to Luke's own through Vjun's airspace?

"Tower to V-2," the operator suddenly spoke up over the com line between the shuttle and Vader's personal fortress, "you are cleared for landing pad alpha, escort is on the way, tower out."

"Thanks tower, V-2 out."

Luke saw the massive, breathtaking forest appear below him along with the extensive mountain chains and rivers as his shuttle finally broke through the last of the upper atmosphere. Within seconds of his arrival, a pair of tie fighters appeared on either side of him.

"V-147 to shuttle, we'll follow you in Sir," the pilot of the lead fighter informed Luke after he had accepted their hail.

"Very well V-147, glad to have you," Luke said, surprised that his voice hadn't yet broken due to his utter terror. Though he knew his father would one day use him as a commander in the field, Luke had as of yet failed to come to terms with that particular concept. Though the flight to Vjun had left him wondering if he might be cut out for the job after all.

The rest of the flight was spent in relative silence—the ion engines were running of course—while Luke felt the odd sense of Déjà vu creep back into his mind as he watched the forest fade away and reveal the city of Ag below.

The only major city to populate Vjun's surface, Ag was a cultural and economic center as well as a military one. The various clans and families of Vjun that were spread out across the entire planet were watched over and guided by the semi-independent government—oddly enough established and encouraged by Vader—that was located there. The native population came together within its walls from every corner of the planet, each with their own different regional based culture.

The city itself was small by galactic standards, but it was massive to the natives of Vjun. Work could always be found there, be it in any of the many factories, shops, or any other facility of profession.

Despite its remote location in regards to the larger galaxy, or even to the local populace, the Empire still maintained a formidable presence within the city. The 432nd Sub-Adult Group—a military training program designed to recruit youths into the Empire—was also based there along with a garrison of Imperial Stormtroopers.

After they had cleared the city, Luke—along with his escorts—followed a large river briefly before it emptied out over a massive cliff face. At the bottom of the cliff was a long stretch of wide snow white beachhead. Even from the distance Luke was flying at, he could make out the native populace enjoying yet another peaceful day relaxing under Vjun's suns while gentle ocean waves rolled onto the edges of the beach.

"I missed this place," Luke admitted as the shuttle sped along past the beach and over the ocean.

"No argument here," Lekauf agreed as he too felt a sense of contentment wash through his tired body.

"V-147 to shuttle," the tie pilot said, "happy landing, escort out."

Luke didn't bother to respond to the tie's departure as he settled into preparing the shuttle for its landing procedure. He quickly realized that Vader's private fortress was a pilot's nightmare—a notion he was thankfully spared of during his first trip to Vjun—as he eyed the towering fortress with a new sense of fear in his gut.

Set atop a massive mountainous pillar—which was saying something considering the other pillars surrounding it were already massive in their own right—Vader's fortress was a terrifying sight by the sheer size of it. The actual base itself was gigantic while towering spires shot up into the heavens above it. Beneath the surface of the metallic structure existed a seemingly endless network of honeycombed tunnels and facilities within the pillar's rock surface.

Covering every inch of the entire compound was an array of elaborate landing pads, deadly defense structures, and shield generators. Marching all over the wide parade decks and courtyards was nothing but stormtroopers, stormtroopers, and more stormtroopers. Flying around on patrol like their escort fighters were squadrons of tie fighters.

The entire thing looked exactly like an Imperial command center.

"It didn't look so formidable last time," Luke commented as he brought the shuttle down on the flight path Lekauf had set for him towards the alpha landing pad.

"You were struck with awe last time," the lieutenant reminded him with an amused smirk.

/

"It is a pleasure to see you again sirs, and may I extend my congratulations on your promotion _Commander_ Skywalker?" Captain Berruk said with a wide smile as Luke and Lekauf exited down the ramp connected to the Imperial transport shuttle.

"C-commander?!" Luke asked, shocked, as Lekauf also allowed a wide smile to dawn on his face.

"Lord Vader felt it was fitting for you to finally be given a rank within the armed forces to avoid any gray areas while you were here," Lieutenant Lekauf explained, not in the least upset at Luke's promotion. Though the man was considerably younger than Lekauf, along with having just joined the Empire, the lieutenant knew that Luke was, by far, more valuable to the Empire than anyone on Vjun. Plus, having the Imperial Commander-in-Chief as your father did occasionally entitle you to _some_ impressive perks.

Luke, rendered speechless by his father's surprise, merely nodded in acceptance as Berruk's smile grew wider. The captain gestured towards the lift at the other end of a short bridge across the landing pad.

"We'll get you fitted for your new uniform later, I'm famished," the captain said as the three men crossed the bridge and entered the lift. The durasteel cover slid shut behind them and the lift immediately began to ascend towards the upper levels of the fortress.

"Sir, I almost forgot," Berruk said suddenly as he realized something, "Lord Vader mentioned that he would like you to train some of the men in his stead. I believe he felt that it would be a beneficial exercise for you."

"Train the men?" Luke questioned, unsure of what he could possibly offer the elite troopers of the 501st Stormtrooper Legion.

"Apparently there have been rumors of..." Captain Berruk paused as if hesitant to continue, "a resurgence of the _Jedi_," the captain said the last word with such disgust and anger that Luke was momentarily reminded of just what that particular order had done to him.

"They must be eradicated," Luke said simply.

"Oh, of course," Berruk agreed as the lift finally opened and the three men walked down a long corridor. "That is why you will be training the men in Lord Vader's absence," he explained, "he wants them to be prepared to fight the Jedi scum and their lightblades."

Luke resisted the urge to correct him on his interpretation of _lightsabers_, deciding that it would only waste time.

Along the way, Luke saw the familiar guards wearing the jet black dress uniforms of the 501st Legion. Crisp, sharp salutes were presented by the guards as the three officers passed them; a return was not given, nor was it expected.

"It is good to see you again Master Skywalker," Fidelis said upon seeing the trio enter the primary private dining hall. The red and black checkered robot was standing before them, a fully prepared table laden with food and drink behind him.

"Fidelis," Luke said with respect as he took the center seat while Captain Berruk and Lieutenant Lekauf took the far left and far right ones across the table. The droid was known for its cooking abilities and it had provided Luke with the best food he had ever eaten when he had been training on Vjun. At least the food he had been able to eat in the short amount of time Lu-

"Where is Lumiya?" Luke asked suddenly as he remembered his all but forgotten instructor. The last he had seen of her was when Vader had come to collect him after Luke had defeated her in a final duel.

"You would have to ask Lord Vader that," Captain Berruk answered as he helped himself to a pile of voisk crabs. "I believe he transferred her somewhere."

Slightly let down that he could not reconnect with the woman that had briefly shown interest him in the romantic way, Luke decided to move on. "I will be sure to ask him about it later then. What were you saying earlier about my uniform?" Luke asked.

"Oh, well we'll need to get you one first of course," Berruk said as he gestured with one hand at Luke's black attire while devouring voisk crabs with the other. "But we'll have to size you, secure you the proper security clearance discs, rank, and code cylinders, and then we'll have to teach you how to act like an officer."

"This is starting to sound more like work than a gift," Luke admitted as he too helped himself to the food before him.

"It'll pay off in the end," Lekauf assured him.

/

"Mon Calamari has fallen," General Riekaan informed the high council grimly as he entered the council's chambers.

"That was our best hope at rebuilding the fleet," Admiral Caso remarked bitterly as Riekaan sat between the admiral and General Dodonna. "Now we'll never stand a chance against the Imperial Armada..."

"What kind of talk is that?!" Leia Organa snapped in frustration as she stared at the admiral. "There is always a chance of victory so long as we believe in it!"

The admiral stared back at the Princess of Alderaan, his emotionless eyes met her passionate ones and she flinched away from his gaze.

"Princess," Admiral Caso said, the same bitterness and disgust still evident in his voice even as he spoke to her. "My men are _dead_," Leia slowly began to struggle to keep up the appearance of appearing confident before all of the older councilmembers. "They were _slaughtered_ because you decided to _attempt_ to destroy the Death Star—a plan that failed _miserably_ I might add—and _then_ you decided to _attempt_ to liberate Mon Calamari! _You_ might be willing to throw your men to their graves without a second thought, but _this_ officer refuses to do so anymore!"

The room was silent as the council stared at Caso with a variety of expressions. Shock was the primary color decorating their faces, horror was another, along with disgust, pity, understanding, hatred, and lastly—and predominantly—disbelief.

"What exactly are you saying _Admiral_ Caso?" Mon Mothma, co-founder and leader of the Alliance to Restore the Republic, asked as she eyed her primary naval commander with a mixture of pity and understanding.

The admiral glared at her briefly before he sighed deeply, "though I would rather not say such a thing before those of you that _actually_ care about the wellbeing of the men we have been sending to their deaths," he said, "I am afraid I must inform you of my resignation from the post of Fleet Commander."

"I am sorry that we have led you to such a statement," Mon Mothma said, truly saddened to see such a promising man go. If they had had better ships—or more ships for that matter—he could have truly delivered a serious blow to the Imperial Fleet. "You must understand that we cannot allow you to leave so long as we remain on Yavin IV."

The admiral nodded and stood up slowly, "I do not wish to abandon the alliance," he clarified as he effortlessly ripped his rank off and placed it on the council table. "I merely refuse to be apart of its leadership."

With that, the admiral—in a rare display of adhering to military courtesy—saluted the council as if he were on a parade deck instead of a private chamber before he turned around and left the room. With his departure a hush fell across the already dead silent room.

"Now what?" Dodonna asked grimly as he watched his comrade and friend leave.

"We continue with the meeting," Mon Mothma said, drawing the remaining councilors back in with her soothing voice and presence. "We will discuss finding a replacement for Admiral Caso at the end."

"Very well," General Riekaan said in an attempt to get the council meeting back on track.

"Mon Mothma," General Madine, the head of Alliance Intelligence, said. "There was something that one of my operatives mentioned to me that I thought might interest you,"

"Go on."

"There are rumors that Vader has taken on a second in command, a military protege if you will," Madine informed them. "There have only been a few reported sightings of the pair together, but my informant gave me their word that Vader is training him for something."

"A name to this mystery man, was there?" One of the members of the council asked as all eyes turned towards the small being. He had remained silent throughout the entire meeting, but it was impossible to ignore him due to his title and the fact that he sat between Leia and Bail Organa.

"Only a last name was ever heard and I didn't believe it when I heard it," Madine said as everyone unconscious leaned in after the mysterious interest the Jedi master had shown in the man. "Skywalker."

The room exploded in conversation as the meaning of the name took effect. Questions rang out like blaster rifle shots as the council began to lose whatever sense of order it had been slowly restoring.

"Could it be _his_ child?"

"If Vader has his hand on a Jedi's spawn we're _doomed_!"

"It has to be a miscommunication!"

Mon Mothma, now deathly pale, began smacking her fist upon the round council table in an attempt to silence the outrageous debate that had suddenly exploded before her. "Quiet!" She cried out as she continued to wail upon the table.

The council either did not hear her or did not care as they continued to fight amongst themselves over what was true and what was not.

"_Calm yourselves, you must!_" The curious council member spoke up, his aged voice enhanced by the power of the force so that it drowned out all other noise while still remaining somewhat rational. The aged Jedi master gestured at all of the other members on the council before he spoke again.

"Behaving like _children_, you are!" He complained as he tapped his walking stick against the table for emphasis. "A _grave _danger, this man is," the creature stated, his tone brokering no room for argument. "The son of Anakin Skywalker, he _is_."

"If this man is in fact the son of that great hero," Bail Organa said as he felt Yoda tense up so faintly that he nearly missed it, "then we must do everything we can to destroy him."

"What?" Mon Mothma asked in horror at the thought of murdering the child of Anakin Skywalker—one of the greatest heroes of the Clone Wars—in cold blood.

"A great man, Anakin was," Grand Master Yoda agreed as he felt his heart constrict at the thought of the fallen Jedi and the dark path he had taken. "Not of the same mold, his son is." Yoda paused and eyed everyone in the room once more. "A powerful ally, Vader will make out of him...a new era of darkness, we shall fall into."

"Then we must act quickly before Vader can finish training this man," General Riekaan said.

"Crix, what do you have on this man's whereabouts?" Mon Mothma asked General Madine.

"My source told me that he was headed to Vjun," the General informed her.

"Vjun?" General Dodonna stated in surprise. "That planet's a barren wasteland!"

"Deceiving, Vader's home may be," Yoda cautioned as he gestured at Leia. "Ready, do you feel?" He questioned while Bail suddenly felt as if the world might rip out from under him.

Leia looked at Yoda in shock, "but master...I've only-"

"Ready, or ready not, are you?"

Leia took a long breath before she stared down at the lightsaber at her hip as if in deep contemplation. After a tense moment in which Bail hoped she would say no, his daughter looked up and nodded. "Yes Master Yoda," she said while Bail died on the inside. "I am ready."

Yoday nodded and turned to Mon Mothma, "Normal soldiers, perish on this journey they will," he informed her . "Transportation, my knights and I shall require however," he added, referring to the rest of the Jedi trainees that Yoda had been teaching in the ways of the force since he had arrived on Yavin IV.

"We'll get right on it," Mon Mothma assured him while she privately felt guilty for what she was about to authorize. Killing her heroes son had to establish some new circle in Hell, she was sure of it.

_Anakin, wherever you are, I'm sorry_

/

_**I'm just on a roll this week! Hope you enjoyed the chapter, let me know what you thought. I would really like some feedback on the Alliance side of things, I know I haven't really mentioned them at all since Chapter seven or something, but I thought I might bring back their side of the story.**_

_**Hope you enjoyed!**_

_**Lostsword**_


	22. Chapter 21: Training For The Assault

_Dark Order: The New Empire_

_Chapter 21: Training For The Assault_

_ "Good morning ____commander__."_

_ Luke grinned as he took his seat at the table. Captain Berruk and Lieutenant Lekauf had already taken their own respective seats and were busy devouring some odd form of pudding with an assortment of long flaky crackers._

_ "It still feels weird having a rank," Luke commented as he momentarily glanced at the shining, multi-colored metallic rank that was pinned to the left breast pocket on his new uniform._

_ "You'll get used to it," Berruk assured him as his empty bowl was removed and immediately replaced with a plate of freshly cooked eggs and toast._

_ "I suppose," Luke agreed as he was served his own plate along with a glass of freshly squeezed juice._

_ A brief silence took over the dining room as the three men shifted away from socializing and instead focused more on devouring their breakfast. The meal shifted on towards a flash fried meat dish, then another bowl of some odd delicacy, before it was concluded with soft biscuits baked in warm butter and dipped in varying jellies._

_ "Every time I come here, I realize just how much I miss Fidelis' cooking," Lekauf said with a groan as he held his stomach. The food had only started to digest, but the lieutenant could already tell that he would be using the fortress' multi-level gym for several days._

_ "I does grow on you," Captain Berruk commented as he pushed away his empty plate and signaled for another refill of juice._

_ "I don't think the food is what will be growing," Luke remarked with a sly smirk. The other two men laughed uproariously at the joke as the captain's glass was refilled._

_ "Speaking of growing," Berruk said as he sipped at the new concoction, "your class begins at 1800 hours."_

_ "Of course," Luke replied as he felt the icy sense of dread he had been so stubbornly ignoring begin to return to the pit of his stomach. _

_ "How many will there be in the class?" Lekauf asked, both genuinely interested and concerned about his charge, no matter how capable he was of handling himself in any situation._

_ "Only a dozen have been selected for the first few lessons," Berruk explained as he nodded approvingly at the flavor of the juice before taking another sip. "We'll add more to the classes based on how Luke handles the current number."_

_ "What if I can't handle any of them?" Luke asked, trusting Berruk to give him a straight answer rather than doubt Luke's resolve._

_ "From what I've seen of your abilities," Berruk said honestly, "you'll handle it perfectly."_

_ Luke severely hoped the captain was correct in his observation._

* * *

_ "Officer on deck!"_

_ Luke eyed the men standing before him with a carefully hidden mixture of wariness and fear. On the outside, he looked as commanding, impassive, and calm as Vjun's massive oceans. On the inside, he felt like the sandstorms that had ravaged his childhood homeworld were tearing their way through his nerves._

_ There were, as Captain Berruk had said, a grand total of twelve troopers standing perfectly ram-rod straight throughout the decently spacious training room that had been commandeered for Luke's instructional class on combating force sensitives. They were all male, all of them were overly muscular, and every single one of them sported scars from various past campaigns. _

_ Needless to say, Luke felt intimidated._

_ "At ease," he ordered as he walked towards the center of the room. The troopers immediately relaxed and quickly formed a circle around the Imperial officer._

_ "As you know," Luke said, surprised at how calm his voice sounded despite the terror that gripped his thoughts, "my name is Commander Skywalker. I will be teaching you how to defend and attack force sensitive enemies."_

_ Luke paused and watched as the troopers, all of them veterans of countless battles, take in the information he had just provided. "Please remember that order ____exactly__ as I said it," Luke cautioned them as he reached for his lightsaber, "you are no match for a force sensitive on your own, always take flight over fight if you have the option."_

_ "Sir," one of the troopers, a sergeant, asked as he tentatively raised his hand as if he were in a classroom, "What exactly is the point of this if we aren't supposed to actually ____fight__ the Jedi scum?"_

_ Luke left his hand on his lightsaber as he answered the sergeant, "that is a good question," he praised as he unhooked his lightsaber and ignited it. The stormtroopers immediately took several steps back as they recognized the blood red blade for what it was. "Your primary purpose is to assist myself or Lord Vader in defeating these targets. You have to be able to ____survive__ against them first to help either of us."_

_ "Understood commander," the trooper said, sudden understanding lacing his words, "thank you for clarifying."_

_ "Your welcome," Luke said with a comforting smile. To his immense relief, his plan worked and the smile seemed to cause the stormtroopers to relax—even if it was miniscule—around him. "Also," Luke said, deciding to play that angle for all that it was worth, "I am not Lord Vader, you do not need to refer to me by my rank," he saw the confusion flicker across all of their faces as well as brief concern and surprise. "My name is Luke, I would prefer to be called that."_

_ "Understood sir," the troopers replied in unison and Luke ____barely__ restrained himself from hitting himself in the head in frustration._

* * *

_ "Again!" Yoda called out as the padawan learners repeated the same drill for the forty second time that day. Leia knew because she had counted...and counted and counted. All around her, cloaked figures wielding training sabers continued to duel with each other in mock showdowns as they tried to master their combative skills. Every time they failed to meet the grand master's expectations._

_ The so called "Jedi Knights of the Alliance" were anything but the great warriors of the old Jedi Order. Comparatively, they fell collectively into the same category as seasoned apprentices of the precursor order._

_ Only Leia could have been considered on par with the ancient Jedi Knights, and that would be a stressed compliment at best. Despite her massive force potential and spectacular learning rate, the Princess of Alderaan simply could not tap into the reservoir of energy as much as she would have liked._

_ Yoda had informed her privately that it was a defect that had spawned within her since her birth. Though she had a force potential that rivaled his own, she would never be able to use it fully. Still, she had proven time and time again to be the best apprentice that Yoda had trained out of all the force sensitives brought to him by the Alliance._

_ "Tajeen! Hate your foe, you ____must____not__!" Yoda scolded a tall, green skinned amphibious looking student. "The way to the dark side, hate is! Bring about your own destruction by fighting Vader with his own weapon, you only will..."_

_ "Apologies master," Tajeen said as he bowed before his master. "I will strive even harder now to control my anger."_

_ "Control your anger, you must not," Yoda warned, "Forgo all evil temptations, the way of the Jedi demands."_

_ "Y...yes master."_

_ "Continue your lesson! Form II, perfected you must have it," Yoda ordered as the "knights" groaned before once again attacking each other with their training sabers. The mock battles continued long into the evening—though they had started well before the sun had risen—and finally ended close to the next day._

_ "Meditate, I urge you," Yoda called after his pupils as they wearily left the training hall. "Prepare your minds for Vader and his kind, you must!"_

_ "Yes master!" Those that could still respond said before the doors to the training hall shut behind them._

_ Yoda closed his eyes and slowly floated several meters off the floor as he entered a gentle meditation._

___Blades of red and blue slashed left and right, up and down, twirling and swirling as the mist covered air was disturbed by cries of pain..._

___ The mist thickened and he watched as the world shifted before refocusing on a man, cloaked in black, kneeling before a towering mountain of metal built upon a graveyard of human corpses. The man then leapt forward unexpectedly and drove a blade of pure shadow into the heart of the massive machine._

___ Sparks erupted from the machine before it partially collapsed under the strain of maintaining itself despite the gaping hole in its center. The man wielding the shadowy blade shifted between two different forms before morphing into the machine. It slowly began to rebuild itself..._

___ Again the world fell out of focus before refocusing once again, this time on a beautiful world of green and blue. Blue streaks dashed around black dots before colliding with a massive red wall-_

_ Yoda was broken from the trance as he sensed a presence enter the training hall. The rapid fire flashes that he had been seeing vanished as well and the Jedi master knew bitterly that he would not see them again so long as he lived outside of the force._

_ "Aid, do you require young Leia?" He asked as the Jedi-in-training slowly slid out of the shadows to face her master._

_ "Master, do you believe we will triumph over Vader and his new apprentice?" She questioned as she took a seat across from him at his urging. Crossing her legs, the princess attempted to calm her mind and enter a low state of meditation._

_ "Doubts, you have?" Yoda asked, not necessarily a challenge._

_ "I have dreams master..." Leia said softly, as if the very mentioning of said dreams would bring them back to haunt her yet again. "Dark dreams..."_

_ "A premonition, you have seen," Yoda informed her as he slowly used the force to calm the young padawan. "What have you seen?"_

_ Leia took a deep breath before she answered. Though he would never admit it to her, and she would never see it due to his carefully constructed mask of concern, her response chilled Yoda to his very core._

_ "Death."_

* * *

_**Sorry its kind of short, I'm running myself ragged trying to work this new schedule into play. Hope you enjoyed it anyways!**_

___**Lostword**_


	23. Chapter 22: Surprise Attack

Dark Order: The New Empire

Chapter 22: Surprise Attack

"You have failed me," Emperor Palpatine said as his Hand approached the Imperial throne after the massive dual doors flanking the entrance to the throne room had closed with a near-silent clang. The Hand stopped at the foot of the throne and kneeled deeply before the ruler of the galaxy. The Sith master was still garbed in his normal dark robes and the throne room still stank of the same dark power that had existed there since the palace's creation, yet Mara Jade still sensed something had changed since she had last been summoned.

"I...was unprepared for Vader's apprentice, Master," Mara said softly, knowing the answer sounded like an excuse even to her own ears—a pitiful excuse at that.

"Is he greater than you?" Palpatine asked calmly, his eyes glinting in a dangerous way as Mara felt the room's dark power seep into her master's aged form.

"Far greater...Master," Mara replied truthfully, she knew full well that her thoughts were as clear as vors-glass to him.

Palpatine closed his eyes and said nothing, which in a way was worse. He had not killed her, which she had prepared herself for, but he had also not acknowledged her statement. She remained kneeling before the throne for a very long, very quiet, time before Palpatine spoke at last.

"When I was just a young man," he began softly, his eyes still closed, "I was pitted against my father, who was a very powerful man in the court of the King of Naboo."

Mara remained quiet as he spoke, knowing that even a hint of an interruption would result in her immediate punishment. Her master's punishments did not end well, or quickly.

"My father was an incompetent politician who was holding our planet back from greatness, he would not listen to me when I tried to explain how our planet could become a true power in the galaxy rather than its footstool. He was always a daft fool...even to his grave," Palpatine had yet to open his eyes and Mara felt the room grow even colder as the Dark Side danced around the throne room like professional Twi'liks.

"One day, I came to understand that he had to be...removed. It was not a task I carried out pleasantly, but it was one I carried out perfectly. My father was stronger than I was, but he was not smarter. I knew his habits, his skills, his abilities, his strengths, and his weaknesses. I played every single one in order to bring about his doom," Palpatine paused briefly and at last opened his eyes. He lowered them and stared directly at his apprentice, who was all but frozen in fear as she stared back at the soulless pits that were locked with her own.

"You will do the same," Palpatine said gravely, the Sith master left nothing in his tone to allow Mara to argue the command. She did so anyways.

"How will I do this master?" Mara said softly, her eyes dropping automatically to the floor as her entire body radiated submission. If her master suspected, even incorrectly, that she was challenging him, he would torture her for days before allowing her to speak to him. "I know nothing of this man's traits; his habits, skills, abilities, and especially his strengths and weaknesses are a mystery to me."

Palpatine's bleak yellow eyes bore into Mara, searching for any sign, both in the force and in her physical body; of any fear; of any challenge; of any cowardice. When he satisfactorily found nothing to the contrary, he spoke again in his gravely voice. "You will attack him again, my Hand," he eyed her critically this time, preparing to capture her initial reaction to his next few words, "and you will_ lose_."

"M-my Master?" Mara asked, stunned, as she tried to understand the meaning behind her new order. To fight Vader's apprentice was one thing, but to _lose_? She could not comprehend such a command; it violated everything she understood about herself; about everything her master had drilled into her. She was made to win.

If she didn't win, what was she?

"You will lose," Palpatine assured her, his eyes still surveying her critically. "You will allow yourself to be captured, you will gain his trust, and you will _destroy_ him."

"But how will I gain his trust from a prison cell?" Mara asked, still lost on what she was to do. How could she defy her basic instincts? She was a winner, she won at all costs. How could she not only lose a battle willingly, but push herself to gain the trust of someone who had beat her?

"You are Sith," Palpatine said plainly, his tone informing her that he was not pleased with her reactions. "Deception and betrayal are in your blood. They guide you. You will find a way." And with that, Mara's fate had been decided, she had no choice but to find a way to accomplish her mission now.

"As you wish, my master," Mara said submissively before standing up at last and turning to leave the throne room, she knew that she had been dismissed and her master obviously expected her to leave him now.

"Jade," Palpatine said just as she reached the massive double doors, his voice was ice cold.

"Yes, my master?" Mara asked softly, fear rising in her so fast that she barely managed to destroy it before it could be sensed.

"If you do not come back from this mission successfully, do not come back at all."

* * *

"Huh...it's pretty," Leia heard one of the apprentices say as the shuttle dropped out of hyperspace and into the Vjun system. Floating peacefully before the shuttle was the medium sized planet of Vjun, with its massive oceans, vast forests, and thin, but deadly, strips of desert plains.

"I thought it was a wasteland?" Tajeen asked in surprise as another apprentice, Malix Corda, began to direct the shuttle towards the sector of the planet that contained Vader's private fortress.

"Very deceiving, your enemy will certainly be," Yoda said softly as he eyed the green planet that they were rapidly approaching. "_Great_ suffering, this planet contains..." Yoda remarked.

"Is...is Vader here?" Another apprentice asked, fear evident in his voice, though it was obvious that he was trying to fight it.

"Oh come on!" Tajeen barked as he crossed his thick green arms in a display of perceived extreme manliness. "We'll take Vader just as easily as we'll take his apprentice! We've got Master Yoda with us!"

Yoda eyed the Gungan with disapproval, "Overconfident, you must not become," he cautioned as he gestured towards the planet, "a path to the Dark Side that is."

Tajeen lowered his head and muttered softly under his breath, "of course, master...forgive me please," he said before bowing low to the older Jedi.

"Not needed, forgiveness is," Yoda said as he patted the taller Jedi's leg with his gnarled wooden walking cane. "Of your own power, wary, you should be." Yoda cautioned again before turning to the other handful of the so called Jedi "Knights" gathered in the cockpit.

"Of course, master," Tajeen said humbly, though there was still a trace of anger within his aura, before he ended the bow and straightened to his full height.

"On the planet, Vader is not," Yoda finally confirmed as he felt a wave of relief wash over the assembled "knights" in both the cockpit and the troop hold directly behind them—the knights inside could hear him easily through the open doorway connecting the two compartments. "Cautious, we should still be," Yoda said with a final pointed glance at Tajeen.

"Yes, master," the assembled knights said in unison.

"Master," Malix said from the pilot's seat, "the codes worked. We're cleared for landing pad 7-A."

Yoda nodded and gestured at the open doorway that led into the troop hold. "Prepare, we must now."

"Yes, master," the Jedi said once again before following their leader into the compartment to prepare their disguises. The next few minutes would be crucial to their continued survival.

As his "knights" prepared for the upcoming battle by checking their captured Imperial uniforms, meditating, or cleaning and inspecting their lightsabers, Yoda allowed his own mind to ponder what was about to happen—he had nothing to prepare, he would be hiding inside a supply crate due to his short stature. Though the alliance called Yoda's apprentices Jedi Knights, Yoda knew fully well that none of them possessed _anywhere_ near the required force command to call themselves a Knight of the Jedi Order of the Old Republic.

The title of Knight had been given them to give them a sense of strength, to increase their moral. Leia was the only one who could possibly claim the title of Knight with any real authenticity. Tajeen or Hael might be able to claim that title one day as well, but they were still not ready yet. In truth, Yoda was really the only one who could kill Skywalker. In truth, he was throwing away their lives just like the generals and admirals of the Rebel Alliance. In truth, he should have killed that evil creature the day he had seen it after Padmé had given birth to it. He had sensed the darkness permeating its soul just as easily as he had sensed the brightness in Leia's.

But he had not.

Ben had convinced him to allow Luke to live. He had claimed he would watch over him. Yoda should have never agreed, but he had. Now Luke was alive and growing strong in the Dark Side as fast as his father had and Ben Kenobi was dead. He should have never agreed.

The shuttle began to shake mildly as the atmosphere was finally breached and Malix began to guide it over a vast forest towards Vader's fortress. Yoda could not see Bast Castle, but he could sense the Dark Side permeating within it. The ancient Sith had used Vjun as a stronghold for centuries, then Dooku had taken it ages later, then Vader—formerly Anakin Skywalker—had claimed it as his own. Now it was in the hands of a new Sith.

Luke Skywalker.

* * *

"_Again_!" Luke barked furiously as he walked down the line of Imperial soldiers. The armored warriors swung their electrostaffs with a near-perfect mixture of grace and brutality as their weapon collided against each other with a thundering bang and hiss. The troopers continued following their drills as Luke walked down the line, his eyes were hawkishly observing every single warrior, eagerly hunting for any mistake, any error. He found none.

It had only been a few months since he had returned to Vjun and started training his father's soldiers, but Luke had adjusted, as Captain Berruk had proudly stated, "beyond superbly." His original class of a mere dozen seasoned Imperial soldiers had grown to over a hundred well trained warriors who had dubbed themselves "Jedi-Killers." Luke himself had grown up as a commander as well; long gone were his days as an awkward, if still imposing, fresh officer.

After only a few months, he had excelled just as well as his training program; veteran officers saluted him out of respect, not just fear; the native men of the unit had even come to label him as "_Braef-Frater_", or brother commander, in Vjuni. The title had caught on like wildfire and Luke could scarcely escape his sudden fame now.

Alongside his sudden popular standing, Luke had taken exceptional pleasure in the last holo from his father. Lord Vader, in a professional display of courtesy to a subordinate officer, had seen fit to officially designate a special detachment of the 501st Battalion for "special projects of extreme importance to maintaining good public order within the Galactic Empire." His father, in their private holo communication, had stated that if the Emperor was going to upgrade his battalion—roughly six hudnred men—to a legion—roughly ten thousand men—he could easily spare several hundred troopers for Luke's command.

Needless to say, Luke had never felt better; not only was his father recognizing him—albeit in a veiled, but necessary, way—but he was showing his approval of Luke as his son. Compared to the all but nonexistent love shown to him by his fake father, Luke had been in an unbreakable good mood for the past week.

"Jon, you're strike needs to be higher!" Luke barked out as he finally caught a mistake from one of the twenty odd men in the room. The Imperial Enforcer—the re-used, but official, term for Luke's unit—radiated extreme displeasure towards himself, not Luke, and immediately set out to correct his miniscule mistake with absolute determination.

The advanced class had been practicing for over six hours.

"You're opponents will be of _first class_ material!" Luke snapped as he returned to his measured circuit up and down the double line of Imperial Enforcers. "You _will_ wear out faster than you would normally expect! Grit your teeth and dig in!" Luke commanded as he briefly thought back to his own duel with the red haired female assassin that had nearly claimed his life. He had been worn out after only briefly fighting her, these men would have to be well-used to such extreme combat by the time they fought their first Jedi.

"_Faster_!_ Harsher_! Let your emotions _flow_!" Luke roared at no one in particular as he eyed the enforcers critically. Though he had not singled anyone out specifically, _every_ single enforcer took the comment personally and vowed to push themselves even harder in their training. That was the dedication and reverence Luke had somehow earned from the enforcers. That same dedication and reverence was returned to them, however, by Luke.

The drilling continued on for another two hours before Luke finally gave the command to stop. He had run them through the indoor combat course, the sand pits outside, the combat course again, then more drilling, another round at the combat course, another pit battle, more drilling, and then a final session of sparring in the sand pits. This time, it was all twenty enforcers against Luke.

There was no holding back. There was no mercy. It was exactly what Luke wanted from the men he had been training.

"A Jedi is _always_ conscious of his defenses!" Luke shouted as he ducked under a trio of buzzing electrostaffs aimed for his head before swiping the legs out from under an enforcer—sending him quickly into the sand. "An opening is _never_ an opening! Do not fall for the bait!" He ordered before swinging upwards and knocking an enforcer backwards—out cold—before he ducked under another electrostaff's hissing swing. He proceeded to flip another enforcer onto his back and knock out two more enforcers with well aimed kicks before the initial enforcer hit the ground.

"More intensity! More brutality!" Luke raged as he let the Dark Side flow through him easily—though he kept it at bay just enough to prevent himself from permanently harming his men. "Attack me! _Kill_ me!" He cried as he fought them off with aerobatics and his fists alone; they gave it their best, but no one could land a hit on their commander. He was just too powerful.

Luke swiped another enforcer into the sand before smashing his fist into another enforcer's face. He followed up with an elaborate twist-kick—A famed and difficult maneuver from Form V—that left three more enforcers in the sand. Finally, he preformed a duel uppercut and dropkick on the two remaining pair of enforcers. The troopers dropped to the sand with such smoothness that Luke momentarily feared he had given in to the Dark Side too much and had accidentally killed them; however, he was happily proven wrong as they tentatively began to move again after only a few moments of stunned silence.

"As I have always instructed in you," Luke stated softly, his voice, as well as his energy, having rapidly drained of its energy, "the Jedi will _always_ be stronger than you in physical combat. They have more raw power through the Force than you do despite your training and your physical strength." Luke paused momentarily to let his words sink into their minds as they slowly began to move their limbs and pick themselves out of the sand within the pit. "Lord Vader or myself will always be the ones _engaging_ the Jedi, your job lies in assisting us in that matter. Do not be heroes, be executioners."

"Executioners, not heroes" had become something of a creed to Luke's unit; it was akin to the "for state, not glory" creed of the Imperial Army or the "To the Gates of Hell" motto of the Imperial Stormtrooper Corps. Luke had said it in a passing comment once during a lesson, but the saying, much like Luke's Vjuni name, had quickly become a popular part of the common speech of the troopers stationed at Bast Castle.

"Understood, sir," the enforcers said in unison—if a bit weaker due to their fatigue. They had never been able to overcome their initial indoctrination into the Stormtrooper Corps and refer to Luke by his first name—the enlisted men anyways—but "_Baef-frater_" was passed around in their conversations enough that Luke knew they saw him more as a friend than an officer.

"This session is dismissed, report for the evening meal," Luke informed them formally before watching them exit the sand pit and head towards the access lift that would take them back into the fortress and to their barracks where they would be able to shower and change into their cloth uniforms. Luke himself turned towards the edge of the platform that housed the sand pit and leaned against the slim, yet strong, durasteel railing that provided the only barrier between him and a two-kilometer drop and a brutal death in the waves far below.

"I told you, you would make an exceptional commander," Captain Berruk said as the brown haired officer approached Luke from his position to the side of the pit. He had observed the entire training session, from simulation to simulation, throughout the day via either personally stepping into the room or one of the thousands of security cameras decorating nearly every flat surface in the fortress. "You _are_ an exceptional commander," he told him purposely as he placed a hand on Luke's shoulder.

"I know," Luke said, feeling the same gratification that he had experienced following Vader's most recent holo flow through his chest once again as Berruk praised him. "But I still fear I'll fail," he admitted after only a brief hesitation.

"Fail?!" The captain asked in astonishment, "Luke, you've made them the _best_ on the _planet_."

"I-" Luke started to say, only for Berruk to stop him cold.

"Listen here Skywalker," Berruk said seriously as he turned away from the beautiful view of the ocean to face Luke. "Despite your age, you are without a doubt one of the most talented commanders I have _ever_ had the pleasure of working with. Obviously you haven't had the same time as other commanders to gain the same level of experience and knowledge, but you have the abilities of a _Sith_. Who can beat that besides Lord Vader?" Berruk paused and let Luke digest what he had said before continuing on.

"Luke, you're a natural at command, just like you are with piloting and with that Force stuff you talk about," Berruk turned towards the turbolift and Luke turned with him; they walked together towards the lift. "You've got _nothing_ to worry about, believe me," Berruk assured him as they crossed the platform and entered the lift.

The doors had barely shut before Luke felt the Force flair up in warning.

_DANGER!_

"Hold on to me!" Luke roared and before Berruk could react, Luke grabbed the captain in a bear hug and drew the force around them.

The elevator exploded in a shower of steel and fire.

The two men, their uniforms tattered and singed, but otherwise fine, fell through the cloud of smoke and flame and crashed back onto the platform holding the sand pit. Bits of flaming durasteel and shattered glass fell on top of them and along the platform as Imperial personnel along the long platform—it was one of several arcing platforms that stretched around the pillar supporting the fortress above—stared at the scene in numbed shock.

"_Jedi_!" A stormtrooper shouted in terror as he reached for his sidearm, only for the lightsaber wielding warrior clad in an Imperial uniform to effortlessly cut him down. Several more Imperial personnel drew lightsabers of varying colors and intensities before they too began to cut down the remaining Imperials on the platform.

"E-evacuate!" Berruk roared before he coughed violently due to the heavy smoke that had begun to waft out from the burning carcass of the turbolift; moments later and he passed out due to the phyiscal trauma of the fall. Luke barely had time to use the force to move him behind the shelter of the smoking debris before the Jedi Knights were upon him. They rushed him in a mass attack; however, Luke drew his own lightsaber effortlessly and ignited the blood red blade. Then the slaughter began.

Left and right, up and down, he cleaved this way and that as he severed limbs and sliced open vital organs like a butcher in a crowded _Virali_ den. There were roughly half a dozen of the "knights", but within thirty seconds, Luke had cut down five of their number and was advancing on the last one.

"Mercy!" The terrified knight—really nothing more than a padawan in Luke's eyes—begged as she dropped to her knees, her lightsaber cast aside just like her dignity. And her life.

"Those that ask for mercy," Luke said, echoing the ancient words of the holocron of Darth Bane as he drew back his merciless blade, "do not deserve it," and with that his blood red blade seared through her throat—bone and all—effortlessly. The head rolled to the left and the body slumped to the right as Luke turned to call for Berruk.

_DANGER!_

Luke, already exhausted from the long training session, had spent almost all of his remaining strength fighting the half dozen knights. Now, he was forced to push himself closer to his limits as he dodged a brutal lightsaber swing that nearly took his head off. Luke flipped backwards twice and landed stiffly several meters away as he faced a trio of fresh knights, each one garbed in the same matching Imperial uniform while armed with differently made blades. Typical Jedi logic.

"I'm going to _slaughter_ you!" The Jedi to the right, a green skinned Gungan, roared before he charged Luke. The Sith didn't miss a beat as he drew on the Jedi's anger, rage, and heartache to fuel his own tired body while at the same time violently clashing blades with him.

"You will die," Luke said simply, but with a slightly sneer at the end. "It will be _pathetic_."

"_AAAAHHH_!" The Gungan roared again before unleashing a brutal combination of Form VII and Form VI power attacks through the use of a pair of blue and black lightsabers. Luke parried them all easily; his weary muscles and tired mind became all but fresh as the Jedi Knight unwittingly fueled him through his violent emotions.

"Tajeen!" The only Jedi female out of the trio screamed in horror, "you're only _strengthening_ him! Control your anger!"

"Typical Jedi!" Luke spat as he parried another fruitless blow before dealing a critical slash to the Gungan's right thigh, leaving him in a kneeling position. "Block your emotions! Block your feelings! Block your _Humanity_!" He taunted before slashing the Gungan in the chest twice in a diagonal pattern.

The creature roared in pain as it stared up at Luke with pure murder. It was beautiful music to Luke's ears. It was death to the Jedi female's. "Fight me with your _full_ potential!" Luke shouted and the Gungan launched himself at Luke, letting his anger take full control rather than attempt to hold back on it. The Jedi fought only slightly better, and Luke enjoyed the brief exercise of his true strength, but he felt the other two Jedi finally begin to move and he decided to end the briefly renewed battle in earnest.

"It _has_ been fun," Luke said smoothly as he blocked a final blow by the creature, "but it has come time to end this battle." With that, Luke arced his blade gracefully downwards and sliced both of the creature's legs off at the mid-thighs before swinging his blade counter-clockwise and neatly cleaving the creature's arms off.

At least that was what Luke had planned to do.

While he did cleanly separate the Gungan from his lower limbs, his blade was blown from his grasp by a strong force push before he could cut away the Gungan's arms. The green skinned Jedi fell to the floor howling in pain as the remaining two Jedi jumped into the battle just barely too late to help their friend. Typical Jedi.

"Beast!" The second male Jedi roared before slicing sideways at Luke, obviously thinking that a lack of a lightsaber left Luke defenseless. Laughing at the incompetency of the Jedi "Knights", Luke twisted out of the blade's path and brought his palms together.

"You Jedi truly are foolish!" He laughed cruelly as he felt the first spark ignite within his hands, "no wonder you all died twenty years ago!" With that, Luke unleashed a powerful ball of lighting upon the Jedi male. Unlike the typical lighting strikes employed by the Sith Lords of old, the lighting ball compressed massive amounts of voltage into a tight singular space rather than spreading it out in a wide-reaching arc. Thus, when the bolt slammed into the Jedi knight, it exploded through his system with such a powerful controlled force that he died almost instantly.

Between the despair for her crippled friend and the sudden, unbelievable, death of yet another fellow knight, the Jedi girl's wild, distraught emotions cured Luke of whatever remaining weariness there might have been in his body. He eyed her face critically and laughed at the anguish and horror upon it; such a beautiful expression of pain!

"Foolish girl," Luke mocked as he prepared to end both her life and the Gungan's in one fell swoop, "you should have stayed in your hole."As he spoke, the Gungan's blue and black blades flew from the surface of the platform's deck and into his open palms. "Now die like the rest of the old order!" Luke roared before spinning at her and unleashing a flurry of lightsaber slashes.

To Luke's infinite surprise, the female proved to be the strongest of all the so called Jedi Knights. She somehow managed to block his powerful strikes and avoid the death blows he had aimed at her almost like a fish swam through water. She was truly a Jedi of Old, the Force seemed to flow through her with the evil brightness of the Light Side.

Scowling, Luke increased his attacks and swung both high and low, close and wide, with his strikes as he tried to land a critical blow. To his increasing anger, the female Jedi, while unable to switch to the offense, managed to block all of his strikes—though small, bright slashes continued to appear on the edges of her arms and legs and chest as Luke wore down at her defenses.

After nearly three full minutes of fighting, Luke finally broke through her defenses and landed a critical hit. It wasn't the death blow that he wanted, but the jagged slash across her stomach was deep enough to cause the Jedi to drop her bright blue lightsaber and crumple onto the floor with a heavy thud and a defeated gasp of pain.

Smiling in victory, the young Sith dropped the blue and black lightsabers casually and called his own blade to his hand. "I will give you credit, _Jedi_," Luke said as he brought his blade up to finally bring about the death blow of the accursed female, "you fought better than your companions. Far better."

Luke then brought his blade down to deliver the death blow, but just as it had been with the Gungan, so too was Luke denied the death of the human female. Just before his blade cleaved her head from her crumpled body, a force blast blew him away from both the female and the wounded Gungan and into a nearby durasteel railing.

_DANGER!_

Luke, stunned, barely had time to move before the second attack came; without wasting a second, he preformed an expertly executed triple flip away from the railing and over to another section of the curved platform. Barely a breath of a moment after he escaped, a _massive_ force blast absolutely _obliterated_ the section of the platform he had originally been pushed into. The heavily reinforced durasteel floor and railing were gone. Just gone. Nothing remained.

Luke felt the force signature before he saw its owner. It was gigantic. It was a mountain whereas his fathers was a bump in the road. It was a monolith whereas the Emperor's was a statue. The power radiating from the being attacking him was unbelievable. Yet it was also dying. Luke could sense that much.

"Where are you?!" Luke snapped as he dodged another blast of force energy. This blast blew away the body of the Jedi girl along with several meters of metal plating.

"Face me!" Luke shouted as he flipped away from his most recent patch of metal platform as a turbolift soured out of nowhere and destroyed the deck easily.

"Behind you, I am," an ancient voice said directly behind Luke's ear and Luke turned around, blade raised high for an immediate death stroke. He was instead hit full on by a steel crate that sent him sprawling across the ruined platform.

"Foolish, like your father, you are..." the voice said, still behind Luke's ear, as Luke tried to figure out what day he had just been hit into. His body was aching and he himself was struggling just to stand up. "Eager to fight, too much, you are..."

"What do you know about my father!?" Luke roared incredulously as he used that very anger to fuel the Dark Side within him and then convert that into the strength he needed to recover from the brutal blow and stand up.

"More than you think, I know, young Skywalker," the creature said before finally revealing itself as it dropped from the sky out of seemingly nowhere. The green creature was incredibly short, coming up no higher than Luke's knee caps, and it seemed to be incredibly old. Luke knew immediately this had to be the infamous Grand Master Yoda of the old Jedi Order.

"You're supposed to be dead, _Master_ Yoda," Luke sneered as he eyed the small creature with extreme distaste. The small being represented everything his father had worked to destroy, everything that Luke hated about Jedi. An old, manipulative, creature determined to use the unsuspecting to aid the privileged. The very tenets of the Old Republic and the Jedi Order combined.

"I see you are still using old Jedi tricks," Luke said with a graceful sweep of his arm as he gestured at the mutilated bodies of the Jedi padawans strewn about the burning platform. "Just like a _Jedi_ to send the weakest of your own to fight a greater foe," Luke spat at him, feeling the muted despair from the deaths of the padawans seep out of Yoda and give him even more strength through the Dark Side.

"Too eager to fight, like yourself, they were," Yoda said sadly as he eyed the demolished corpses of the padawans sadly. "But too overconfident, you yourself are," Yoda added, causing Luke to snarl furiously.

"I'll show you overconfident!" Luke spat and rushed the small Jedi Master. The creature merely sighed in something akin to regret before it drew its lightsaber—a small green blade of pure emarld energy—before it effortlessly dodged Luke's attack. Then, faster than Luke could have ever imagined, Yoda brought his green blade upwards and sliced _through_ Luke's sword hand, severing it easily at the elbow.

Without pausing at all as Luke howled furiously, unbelievably, in pain, Yoda opened his other paw and unleashed a force blast even _stronger_ than the one it had leveled at Luke the first time. The Sith apprentice was flung backwards into the rock face of the pillar behind him and then _through the _debris field of massive stones as the outer rock face of the pillar collapsed.

Luke fell down, and down, and down through the rock slide as the Jedi master used the Force to guide it away from the wounded Jedi Knights and towards the edge of the ruined platform. At the last second, Luke managed to draw on the Dark Side and fling himself like a rag doll out of the avalanche of stone and back onto the burning platform. The stones continued to rumble down until they crashed into the ocean, several vast kilometers below.

"Sorry, I am, young Skywalker," Yoda said with, to Luke's—barely conscious—astonishment, a pained expression as he leveled his paws once again. "Tried, I did, to keep you safe." Luke, crumpled on the floor much like the female Jedi was by Yoda, could scarcely move as he both saw and felt the Jedi Master gather the force into him for one final attack.

**"YOU ARE SITH! YOU ARE DESTINED! DO NOT BREAK! DO NOT LOSE!"**

Luke wasn't sure if it was his beaten mind playing tricks on him and causing him to repeat his past, but Luke swore it was the same creature speaking to him now as the one that had been infiltrating his dreams. Like before, he saw Lumiya, though now she had her hand raised in the same manner as Yoda had his own back in reality. And, of course, just like his past duel with Lumiya, Luke felt the Dark Side rush into him like a flood of water from an overflowing reservoir hitting a dried up riverbed. With a superhuman roar, Luke drew upon the Dark Side one last time and ended the battle in a single motion.

He blew the platform up.

* * *

"There has been no further sign of the _Jedi_, my lord," Lieutenant Lekauf said, practically spitting out a ball of saliva as the hated word passed through his lips. The Imperial officer was standing before Lord Vader's hologram in Bast Castle's most privileged medical suite, which was located within the top level of the hospital inside the massive tower at the back of the massive fortress. Both Commander Skywalker and Captain Berruk had been put there under the personal orders of Lord Vader, Commander-in-Chief of the Imperial Armed Forces.

The Bacta tank had already cleared the captain of any physical damage, but Berruk was still suffering from both the smoke from the lift explosion and from being unconscious. Luke, on the other hand, had barely survived the triple-waved attempt on his life and then the subsequent fall to his near death. He was still locked up tight in a superb bacta tank, with the purest bacta the medical staff could drum up, in a private room within the medical suite.

After they had dealt with a dozen or so Jedi combatants spread throughout the base, Luke's enforcers had managed to force their way out onto the platform Luke had been fighting on only to find a massive section of it missing. Severed limbs and corpses told the tale of a unbelievable battle between Luke and additional Jedi knights, but there was no sign of him or his attackers. Just a giant hole in solidly reinforced durasteel.

It was only after they found Captain Berruk that they began to uncover the story of the attack. Though his testimony was brief, they were able to discover the remains of a bomb aboard the carcass of turbolift 9T as it lay in pieces across what was left of platform E's deck. The enforcers searched for hours, but found nothing—not a single sign of their beloved commander's remains.

About twelve hours later and Lekauf was summoned to one of the lowest levels of the base as a medical crew was in the process of moving Luke's unconscious form to the medical facility far, far above them. According to the guard sergeant in charge of the shore detail, they had found him washed up on the beach, completely dehydrated and obviously water logged. How he had survived the record-breaking waves of the ocean was a mystery, but he had survived—albeit barely.

When he had seen his condition, Lekauf had been sure Luke was going to die. He was beaten badly, covered in bruises, and worst of all, he was missing his right arm at the elbow. A medical analysis had revealed that he was in severe trauma, barely breathing, and that he had over twenty three bones—both major and minor—broken, some of which had been broken multiple times. The fact that he had survived the fall wasn't even worth bothering over, how he had survived at _all_ was amazing enough.

Luke had somehow recovered, but his arm, half of it lost to the waves, would require a prosthetic replacement.

"Find them Lieutenant." Vader said crisply as he seethed with such fury, such _anger_, that Lekauf momentarily felt that Vader would change his mind and take Lekauf up on his offer to have the officer kill himself before Vader for failing to protect Luke. The Sith Lord had denied him that offer and told him to ensure that his son survived the night; Lekauf had immediately assigned half of the Imperial Enforcers to guard Luke's rooms. They had carried out that order with extreme prejudice—more than a dozen doctors had been "detained" by the enforcers before Lekauf had cleared the matter up.

"It shall be done milord," Lekauf said with durasteel in his voice as he swore to himself that he would see the Jedi dealt brutal deaths for this attack.

Absolutely brutal.

"I will arrive in-system within the next week," Vader, still obviously seething, informed him.

There would be no mercy.

* * *

_13 hours ago..._

"Set."

"Set."

"Set."

"Set."

"Set."

"Set."

"Set."

"Set."

Leia heard her fellow knights report in over their private com line as she, Tajeen, and another knight named Eral moved into their own position. The plan called for a number of preliminary strikes throughout the base to draw Skywalker out from the officer's mess. Leia and her team would be apart of the initial strikes before they ran to join Master Yoda in the final attack.

The idea, as Yoda had explained it back on Yavin IV, was that the knights would handle the easy task of dealing with the Imperial personnel—and thus keeping their casualties nonexistent—while Yoda dealt with Skywalker. If everything went to plan, the knights would never even encounter Skywalker.

And as soon as she thought this, everything promptly began to fall apart.

"This is Uja," one of the knights said softly over the com line—enlisted soldiers weren't supposed to have coms, so they had to be careful about using them. "He's just standing there...no movement."

"Caution, I urge," Yoda said softly from his hiding place in the air ducts within the Imperial base. It had taken him considerable effort to sneak into the vents after the rebel force had landed on Vjun, but it was worth it. He had a perfect view of the hallway outside the officer's mess.

"But he's just standing there!" Urja complained before she grumbled under her breath, "holding position, master."

"Greater than all of you, Skywalker is," Yoda cautioned for what felt like the hundredth time to Leia. She understood that he was stronger than her, did he really have to repeat it every five seconds?

"Master, he's heading to the turbolift!" Hael, another knight, said excitedly. "We can use the explosives!"

"Ineffective against Sith, conventional weapons are," Yoda said stiffly as he tried to lock onto Skywalker's exact position through the Force. The young Sith was moving towards the elevator as Hael had said, but Yoda could feel the Force tell him that the only way Anakin's son would fall today would be by a lightsaber stroke.

Not explosives.

"He's inside!" Hael said excitedly as Yoda felt sudden fear leap into his heart.

"Attack Skywalker, you will not!" He cried, forgetting all his lessons on caution and caution as he was suddenly plagued with his visions from the past. They had concerned today. They had concerned death.

"Fire in the hole!" Someone yelled over the line before a soft rumble could be heard throughout the mid-levels of the fortress as something exploded.

Leia, only three levels above the explosion, was stunned at the fireball it created and immediately ran with her friends and the Imperial personnel around her to look over the railing at the sudden destruction. The turbolift, now a flaming wreck, fell from the sky like a burning martyr and crashed into the deck of the platform below it with a thunderous crash before covering the area with smoke and flame.

"He survived!" Someone said in horror and Leia quickly saw their statement to be perfectly correct as a blonde haired man in singed clothing rose from the smoke like death incarnate. The Sith radiated annoyance, rather than fear, and this caused the knights on the deck with him to feel a deep sense of anger.

"Quick! While he's disoriented!" Tajeen screamed over the com.

"What are you doing!?" Leia roared at him, drawing several startled glances from the Imperials around her.

"Charge!" Hael screamed from her spot down below as she ignited her purple lightsaber before cutting down an Imperial officer standing beside her. The Rodian led her fellow knights valiantly across the deck towards the Sith apprentice while slaughtering the Imperial soldiers left and right as they went. Then they met blade to blade with the Sith spawn and Leia then watched in both amazement and horror as he casually butchered all of them save Hael.

Skywalker was terrifying in his power and he certainly had more than enough of it as the Dark Side ballooned over the Light around him and suffocated it until it was as black as the blood staining the deck plates. His blood red blade slashed in every direction with such speed and velocity that Leia could only keep track of the battle by the flying limbs and crashing bodies.

It was like a vision of one of the Sith Hells. A bloody, gory, Sith-loving Hell. She could barely watch as her friends were massacred like so much data crystal being thrown in a shredder. And then Tajeen was gone from his spot at her left on their platform far above the death below.

"We have to help them!" He roared before leaping off the platform in a vain attempt at saving Hael's life. The Rodian was fighting a losing battle and she knew it; after the last of her fellow knights fell she dropped to her knees and cast aside her lightsaber.

She had surrendered.

Tajeen hit the deck only a millisecond before Leia and Eral, but he was still too late. The Sith said something to Hael in a cold manner and then his blade arced sideways and they felt Hael leave them through the Force. A moment later and their minds were able to process the fact that Hael's head was now separate from her body.

"Monster!" Tajeen roared before slicing brutally down on Skywalker with his twin lightsabers; however, Skywalker easily dodged the blow and flipped away from him.

"I'm going to _slaughter_ you!" Tajeen roared again before charging the Sith full force, his blades raised high. The Sith said something that enraged Tajeen and the two began to spar. The Gungan, through sheer rage and force of will, managed to hold his own against Skywalker, however it was just as vain a battle as Hael's had been.

"Tajeen!" Leia shouted to her friend, sudden realization flooding through her, "you're only _strengthening_ him! Control your anger!" Her warning fell on deaf ears however and Leia watched as Tajeen only fought harder and let his anger grow stronger as the battle raged even worse than before. The duel, ultimately, ended with Tajeen losing both of his legs before Leia could save him; her force blast hit Skywalker just in time to save the Gungan from losing his arms.

Now both disarmed and disoriented, Leia and Eral made their move; they came at him in a perfect pincer movement, Eral high and Leia low, but their attack proved to be fruitless anyways. Skywalker danced away swiftly and Leia watched in horror as the Sith shot a bolt of pure lightning at Eral. She saw it all in slow motion, the first spark of electricity bloomed and then it soared out of his hands and across the deck before slamming into Eral's unguarded chest. The Jedi Knight jerked once before collapsing onto the deck.

Dead.

Leia wanted to throw up.

""Foolish girl," Skywalker mocked as he prepared to end both her life and Tajeen's in one fell swoop, "you should have stayed in your hole."As he spoke, the Gungan's blue and black blades flew from the surface of the platform's deck and into his open palms. "Now die like the rest of the old order!" He roared before spinning at her and unleashing a flurry of lightsaber slashes.

Leia, fully prepared to fight a Sith apprentice in all his power filled glory, was still unprepared for the sheer _tenacity_ of his assault. She was thrown left and right as she battled with the Sith's unrelenting attack. All of the endurance sessions Master Yoda had run them through combined could not compare to fighting Skywalker; it was akin to a million lightsaber drills a second.

Despite it all, she kept up her defenses and she felt the Force flow through her with a calming, soothing brightness as the Light Side of the Force shone through her. She felt the Dark Side withdraw briefly, barely, as she fought to survive Skywalker's onslaught of lightsaber slashes. And then it was gone.

The Dark Side came in and Leia, now covered in wounds, felt a gap in her defenses open up. She saw Skywalker take full advantage of her momentary slip up. She felt Yoda rushing rapidly through the war-zone going on in the fortress up above.

She felt herself scream.

Leia was on the deck, all but immobilized, as Skywalker raised his blade to end her life. All she could think of was Tajeen's crumpled form. All she could see was Hael's brutal death. All she could hear was Eral's scream. All she could feel was failure and defeat. Then she felt the darkness claim her.

* * *

Leia woke up to the sounds of birds chirping. Looking around, she found herself in a beautiful forest of massive, sprawling trees that seemed to stretch upwards into the heavens themselves. All around her she saw signs of animals coming and going. Everywhere there were signs of beauty; multicolored flowers, radiant plants, brightly colored bushes, everything glowed pleasantly here.

"Wh-where...where am I?" Leia asked slowly in surprise as she looked around in confusion. Her last thoughts had been of the battle with Skywa-

_Eral jerked once before collapsing onto the deck. Dead._

This time she threw up, and threw up, and threw up even more.

"Sorry, I am," Yoda said softly from his spot by a tree nearby. "Failed you, I have..."

"M-master?" Leia asked tentatively as she wiped off the remains of her vomit from her lips before glancing up at the Jedi Master. Yoda was horribly bruised, his face was so swollen she could barely believe it was actually the green creature whose feet she had studied under for the past sixteen years.

"Come closer, young Leia," Yoda said, his voice growing softer, "sleep soon...I will have to... "

"No master!" Leia shouted and tried to run, only to collapse to the forest floor as her recently healed legs failed to adjust to the changes they had undergone.

"The...village..." Yoda wheezed out as he gestured gingerly towards the west, "go..."

That was the ending to the final conversation between Leia and her Master.

_Go..._

/

**This is the longest...freaking...chapter...EVER...**

**To everyone who has been complaining, completely justifiably, about a new chapter: HERE, I gave you a NEW chapter that is FREAKING LONG AS FOREVER. ENJOY IT.**

**But seriously, it took forever to write, so please leave me a bunch of reviews, because I'm honestly dead right now. I'm making so many spelling errors due to mind-numbness that it physically hurts to write this end note. I hope you all enjoyed this, I REALLY loved writing this.**

**Review...**

**Goodnight...**

**I'm done writing for the next ten years...**

**Review...**

_**Lostsword**_


End file.
